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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at |http: //books .google .com/I A: t-1^ k;- Lerox Library ■ ■'■■ ■;■. :■:•■.: :.'; . ; . ■- 1! I V* [ "> i I ,1 ii ( ! y I r i V \ N MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF KING CHARLES THE FIRST. BY LUCY AIKIN. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. PHILADELPHIA: CAREY, LEA AND BLANGHARD. 1883. E. Mbrkiam k Co......Pmntim, Brookfield, Mmi. PREFACE. THE Memoirs of the Court of King James which the pre- sent author published several years ago, as a sequel to those of the Court of Queen Elizabeth, werethen designed by her* self to serve as^n introduction to a similar work concerning the more memorable reign of his son, should life and health be lent her to complete so arduous an undertaking. That work she now submits to the candor of the public. On the views which she has taken of her subject, or the difficulties which she has encountered in the execution, it is not her purpose here to expatiate. But grptitude forbids her to pieserve silence concerning those personal friends, or favor- ers of her pursuits to whose kindness she has been indebted for the loan of valuable manuscripts or rare publications, for active researches into original documents, or for learned in- formation on the more difficult or technical points of inquiry ^ connected with her subject. She desires in an especial manner to record her obliga- tions and express her acknowledgments to the marquis of Lansdowne ; to viscount Eliot ; to Benjamin H. Bright, Esq. ; to the Messrs. Merivale, father and son ; to David Jardme, to Samuel Duckworth, and Thomas Coltman, Es- IV quires, and to the Rev. W. Shepherd ; to whose united contributions she is conscious that her work will owe a large share of whatever merit or interest it may acquire, with the well informed reader, as a source of novel infor- mation or correct statement respecting the characters and events of the most remarkable period in the annals of Great Britain. I CONTENTS. VOL. I. CHAPTER I. 1600—1025. Birth of ChaHes — His weak] j infancy — ^Deforinity of his legs — Impediment in his utterance. — Is brought to England and created duke of York. — His earlj faults of temper. — Good qualities — ^Acquirements — Taste for objects of art. — miscreat- ed Prince of Wales. — Attended by Scotchmen. — His reli- gious instruction. — ^Dr. Hakewill— Treachery of the prince towards him. — Attends his mother's funerlil and his father's. — His unpleasant positioff at his father's court. — Bucking- ham's insolence. — He conciliates the prince — Attends him to Madrid — Treatment and behavior of the prince there — Jealousy of the king of Spain. — Return of the prince and duke. — False statements of Buckingham vouched by the prince, who shares in his measures against the earl of Mid- dlesex and the earl of Bristol. — ^Anecdote of his pertinacity. — His professions against popery. — Marriage treaty with France. — Holland sent ambassador. — Intrigues of Mary of Medicis. — Character of Holland — His lettersto the prince. — Earl of Carlisle joined in commission. — Treaty ill-eonducted: — Marriage articles. 13 CHAPTER II. 1625. State of England at the accession of CTiarles. — Voyages of dis- covery and extention of commerce. — Colonies founded in North America. — Commerce ill protected by king James. — Englishmen made captive by Barbary corsairs, — Dunkirk pi- rates. — Low state of the navy. — Rapid progress of luxury. — Court entertainments. — Country hospitality. — Luxury in fur- niture. — Tapestry. — Paintings. — Rieh materials of furniture. ^ I VI — Inigo Jones'ii architcctarc. — Taste for sculpture revived. — Collections of the earl of Arundel and duke of Buckingham. — Researches of sir Thomas Roe for antiques at Constantino- ple. — State of literature. — Translations. — Books of voyages and travels. — Hackluyt. — Purchas's Pilgrimage. — Sandjs's Travels. — History. — Camden. — Speed. — Daniel. — Biogra- phy. — Lord Herbert of Cherbury. — Bacon. — Antiquities. — Spelman. — Cotton. — Selden and Usher. — Theology. — Donne. — Hall. — Bishop Andrews. — State of Poetry. — ^Donne. — Waller. — Suckling. — Carew. — Ben Jonson. — His criticisms on contemporary poets. — Massinger. — Shirley. — Decline of the drama. — Extended plans of education. — Peacham's Com- plete Gentleman. — Lord Herbert's plan of study. — Female accomplishments. — Sir M. Hale on education of daughters — of sons. — Condition of younger brothers. — Art of Thriving. — Disuse of tilts and tournaments. — Duelling. — Effects of wear- ing weapons. — Ladies cudgel their maids. — Court diversions. < — Strict separation of ranks, broken down by king James. — Effects of increasing the number of peers. — Concluding re- marks 29 CHAPTER III. 1626! Expectation of change of measures disappointed. — Buckingham retains his power. — Lord keeper Williams disgraced by his influence — Marriage treaty hastened. — Parliament summon- ed. — Funeral of king James preceded ky his son's marriage. — Ambassy of Buckingham to conduct the bride. — His splen- did appearance and intrigue with the French queen. — Letter of Mary de'Medici to her daughter. — Meeting of the king and queen. — Description and anecdotes of her. — Plague in ^ London. — Meeting of Parliament. — King's speech demand- ing supply. — Commons though dissatisfied grant two subsi- dies. — Ring's ungracious carriage. — Fears of popery. — Mon- tague's book censured in parliament. — King's interference. — Parliament adjourned to Oxford.^ — Ships lent to the king of France. — Parliament incensed. — King demands supply. — Buckingham attacked by the commons. — Parliament dissolv- ed. — Accounts of the plague. — Loan imposed. — Cadiz ex- pedition. — Embassy of Buckingham to the Hague. — Earl Holland dissuades him from visiting France. — Williams de- prived of the seals and banished to his diocese. — King in want of money. — Writs for a new parliament 62 Vll CHAPTER lY. 1625. 1626. Disagreement of king and queen. — French attendants. — Letter of king to Buckingham. — Intrigues of Blainville — of English catholics. — Order to disarm them. — Letter of court news. — Wentworth and others compelled to serve as sheriffs. — Co- ronis^tion. — Williams forbidden to attend. — Laud directs the ceremony. — Particulars of it. — Queen not crowned nor am- bassadors present. — French ambassador in disfavor. — Par- liament opened. — Servile speeches of the lord keeper and the speaker. — Grievances considered — Charges against Buck- ^ iogham. — Interposition of the peers. — King presses for sup- plies.— Disputes between king and commons. — Adjournment. ^—Measures of Buckingham against peers. — Oppressive treat- ment of Williams — of earl of Bristol. — Countercharges of Buckingham and of Bristol who is protected by parliament. — Committal of earl of Arundel. — House of lords obtains his liberation. — Impeachment of Buckingham. — Members sent to the Tower. — Buckingham chancellor of Cambridge. — King demands supply. — Commons complain respecting recusants, — Require the removal of Buckingham. — Dissolution of par- liament. — Remonstrance of the house of commons, — King's proclamations against it 73 CHAPTER V. 16«6— 16«8. Arbitrary measures.— Illegal levy of tonnage and poundage.— Loan. Benevolence. — Composition with recusants. — Con- duct of Charles as head of the church. — Influence of Laud. — Favor shown to Arminians. — Opposite notions of Abbot and Laud respecting the church of Rome. — Government unpopu- lar in church and state.— Dismissal of the queen's French ser- vants. Embassy of Bassompierre. — Buckingham the cause of war with France. — Bassompierre's description of the Eng- lish court.— A loan imposed by thfe council.— Gentlemen imprisoned for refusing to contribute.— Sir Thomas Went- worth.— Chief-justice Crew displaced.— Abbot commanded to his country seat. — Sibthorpe's sermon.— Catholics contribute to the loan.— Toleration of them in Ireland opposed by the bishops.— Loan-refusers denied their habeas corpws.- Expe- dition to the Isle of Rhe.— Affectionate letters of Charles to Buckingham.— Necessity of calling a parliament.— Liberation of state prisoners.— Writs sent to Williams, Abbot and the t «• Viii earl of Bristol, but no change in the king's designs. — Cona- mission of excise. — Troops and arms prepared in the Lo^i^ Countries. 102 CHAPTER VI. 1628. Parliament opened.— Haughty speech of the king. — Grievances opened by Seymour, Philips and others. — Yain efforts of secretary Cook to carry the king's measures. — Petition of right put in preparation. — Judges called in question for denial of habeas corpus. — Petition against recusants assented to. — Supplies deferred, grievances proceeded with. — Offen- sive interposition of Buckingham. — Conference between the two houses on liberty of persons. — Billeting of soldiers and martial law debated.— Attempts of the king to baflaie the peti- tion of right. — Amendment of the peers rejected. — The bill passes both houses'. — Complaint of the commons against Man- waring.— King's evasive answer to the petition of right.— Re- marks. — Indignation of the commons. — Dissolution threat- ened. — Pathetic scene in the house of commons. — King pass- es the Bill. — Commons vote the subsidies. — Complaints against Buckingham. — Dr. Lamb beaten to death. — ^Remon- strance prepared by the commons. — Parliament prorogued in anger • igg CHAPTER VII. 1628. 1629. Expedition prepared for the relief of La Rochelle.— The duke of Buckingham assassinated by Felton.— Particulars.— Treat- ment of Felton. — The judges declare against putting him to the rack.— His death.— Character of Buckingham.— Behav- iour of the king respecting him.— His funeral.— His expences compared with those of Dudley earl of Leicester.- Failure of the expedition and fall of La Rochelle.— Williams restored to favor by Buckingham but again expelled by Laud.— Went- worth gained over and made a peer.— I^aud bishop of London. —Preferment of Montague and Manwaring.— Abbot concili- ated.— King resolves to take a high tone with parliament Its opening.— Fraud of the king respecting the petition of right. —Case of Mr. Rolls.— Disagreement of king and commons on tonnage and poundage — Yow of the commons to resist eccle- siastical oppressions and encroachments.— Complaints of the m^chants.— King defends the acts of the officers of customs. —Report of religion.— Oliver Cromwell.— Licensing of IX books. — Eliot attackf ministers and bishops.— The house connnanded to adjourn. — Speaker held in the chair and a re- monstrance voted. — Members committed. — Parliament dis- solyed. — Proceedings against the imprisoned members^ and conduct of judges. — Court revenge upon the merchants. — Va- rious encroachments of arbitrary courts. — Conduct of impri- soned members. — Account and letters of sir J. Eliot. . . 147 CHAPTER VIII. . 1639. 1630. Principal members of administration. — Lord treasurer. — Lord keeper. — Earl of Manchester. — Marquis of Hamilton. — Laud. — Wentworth. — Peace with France. — Treaty with Spain.— Rubens in England. — Banqueting-house. — Birth of a prince of Wales. — Interference of the French court. — Feelings of the Puritans. — Death of the earl of Pembroke. — Laud chancellor of Oxford. — Marquis of Hamilton raises troops to join Gus- tavus-Adolphus. — Conduct of his agents. — His ill success and return, p 179 CHAPTER IX. 1630—16^ Court intrigues. — Growing influence of the queen. — She founds a capuchin church. — ^Acts in a pastoral. — Prynn's Histrio- mastix. — ^Leighton sentenced for libel. — Instructions to the bishops. — Domestic worship impeded. — Laud's consecration of churches. — Society for buying impropriations condemned. — Re-edification of St. Paal's commenced. — Illegal and op-, pressive modes of raising money for this purpose. — Results of the undertaking. — Laud speaks in public against a married clergy, — Seems to retract, — Celebrates marriage with new rites. — Obtains officers for Windebank and Juxon. — Seizes upon church-patronage,— ^-Disposes of bishopricksathispleas* ure.-^Lays a fine upon printer s of the bible. — Causes Sher- field to be punished for destroying an idolatrous picture. — Remarks. — Notice of sir Robert Cotton. — Proposed visit of Mary de' Medici. — Queen of Bohemia declines visiting Eng- land • . . 195 CHAPTER X. 1633. 1634. King's progress to Scotland to be crowned,— is entertaieed hy Vol. I. B the earl of Newcastle, — Accountof binlt — Spleodorof the pro- gress, — Expense to Scotch nobiiitj, — State of Scotch church and king's measures and designs respecting it. — Coronation. • — Conduct of Charles towards Scotch parliament, — He be- comes unpopular, and why. — Edinburgh made a bishop's see. — Laud a privy-councillor fof Scotland. — English liturgy ap- pointed to be used in Holy- rood chapel. — King's return to England, — Death of archbishop Abbot. — Laud succeeds him, — is offered to be a cardinal. — Reflections. — State assumed by Laud, who receives the title of Holiness from the univer- sity of Oxford. — Conduct of Wentworth as president of the North. — Cases of Bellasisand sir D. Foulis. — Wentworth ap- pointed lord-deputy of Ireland. — Troubled state of that coun« try. — Measures against the puritans.' — Communion tiables turned into altars. — Book of sports. — ^Plays performed at court. — Inns of Court masque. — Notice and death of Noy. — ^Death and character of sir Edward Coke. — Seizure of his papers. . , 216 CHAPTER XL 1634.1635. Expenses of government supplied by illegal and oppressive means. — Imposition of ship-money, — ^Designs of the king in equipping a fleet discussed. — Increasing influence of Laud, < — his patronage of the clergy. — Instances of their growing power and pretensions. — Death of lord- treasurer Portland, — his corruption sanctioned by the king. — Laud chief commis- sioner of the treasury. — Juxon made lord-treasurer. — Motives of Laud in this appointment. — Characiter of Juxon.— r-French and Dutch refugee churches persecuted by Laud for not using the E-nglish liturgy. — Usurpations of Laud over the church of Ireland favored by Wentworth. — Vigorous measures of Wentwortli for recovery of church property there.-r-Irish church articles drawn by arehbishop Usher and approved by king James abrogated at the instigation af Laud, and English articles substituted. — -Laud gains the queen's favor by obtain- ing admission for a papal envoy. — Arrival of Panzani. — Scheme for uniting the Romish and Anglican churches. — ^its failure and the results. — Hostility of Lajid to the foreign protestant churches. — Arrival of the prince Palatine. . $^ CHAPTER XIL 1634. 1635. Anecdotes and various notices from the Strafford Letters. — XI Proclamation for regolating^ prices of proTisions.—v'for the re- s^aiaing of building in London, — Fines on new buildings.-- Extortion practiced on yintners.>T— Sea-coal exported. — Hack- ney coaches. — Sedan chairs.^^Death of Carew ;rr— his cha- racter and writings. — ^Installation of the Garter, and rivalry between Scotch and English. — Trait of the earl of Arundel. — Star-chamber fine on lord Morley. — Lofe story. — ^Account of sir Kenelm Digby, — ^letter of Laud to him. — Percy family, — earl of Northumberland, lady Carlisle and Henry Percy. — Enmity of Laud against bishop Williams, who is prosecuted and heavily sentenced in the star-chamber. — Sentence against Osbaldeston, who escapes. — Proceedings against lady Pur- beck and sir R. Howard. — Irish affairs. — Grants to English courtiers, — letter of king to Wentworth respectin g them. — Convocation of Irish parliament advised by Wentworth. — Feelings of king regarding it i — successful management of it by Wentworth, — his petition for honors, — king's reply. — Irish parliament dissolved 356 « CHAPTER XIII. 1635. 1636. F'orest laws revived and penalties exacted. — ^Resumption of crown grants in Ireland. — several counties of Connaught sur- render to the king. — Resistance to his claims in Galway, and violent measures of Wentworth in consequence. — Oppression of earl Clanrickard, — his death. — Reflections. — Laud's advice to Wentworth. — Case of lord Mountnorris. — rKing takes a bribe from Wentworth. — ^Wentworth received at court and heard in council with great favor, but refused an earldom^-^ King extorts a great fine from the city of London for their Irish lands, then seizes them. — Expedition against Sallee. — King takes the judges' opinion on ship-money. — Proceedings against such as resist this tax. — Account of Hampden. — ^De- ci&ion of his case postponed. — Sketch of the progress of emi- gration and of settlement in New England. — Account of' sir H. Vane, junior. — ^Laud's claim of the visitation of both uni- versities awarded him by the king, — he compiles statutes for Oxford, — entertains the king and queen there, — founds Ara- bic professorship 283 CHAPTER XIV. 1637. Failure of negotiations with the Emperor. — Charles threatens war against Spain. — Wentworth dissuades it. — Unfriendly Xll conduct of France.-^Bombardment of Sallee and peace with . the emperor of Morocco. — 111 success of the English fleet against the Dutch. — Proceedings against Prjnn, Burton, and Bast wick. — Exasperation against Laud in consequence. — Decree of star-chamber against unlicensed printing. — Pun- ishment of John Lilburn;* — account of him. — Quarrel of Laud with Archy the king's fool. — King and Laud jealous of con- versions to popery. — ^Account of Walter Montague. — ^Anec- dotes of Toby Matthew. — Account of Chillingworth, and his writings. — Milton sets out on his travels, — ^returns from Italy confirmed in protestanism. — Judgment against Hampden in the matter of ship-money. — 111 effects of it on the king*s af^ fairs 307 CHAPTER XV. 1637. 1638. Scotch affairs. — ^Arbitrary designs of the king. — Trial of lord Balmerioo. — ^Advancement of bishops to civil power. — Can- ons and service-book compiled for the use of Scotland more Romish than those of England. — Canons sent down to Soot- land. — Spirit of resistance among the Scottish clergy. — Lay members of the council temporize ; bishops urge on the read- ing of the service-book. — Tumult in Edinburgh. — King de- ceived as to its causes persists in his measures. — Tumult at Glasgow. — Petitions from all ranks against the service-book. — ^Proclamations for their suppression. — Letter of lord Tra- quair relating a fresh turaiilt in Edinburgh. — ^Difficult situa- tion of Traquair. — Growing strength of the petitioners. — ^Ob- stinacy of the king.-— Institution of the four tables, — Procla- mation declaring the petitioners traitors disconcerted by pro- tests. — Alarm of Traquair. — Solemn league and covenant. — Enthusiasm of the people. — They demand a parliament. — King sends marquis Hamilton to Scotland as his commis- sioner. — General state of affairs. — King proposes to exact recusants' fines. — Correspondence of Wentworth and Laud on the subject. — Slow progress of English colonies in Ireland. — Alarm caused to Wentworth by the Scotch in Ulster. — Let- ter of earl of Northumberland. — Wentworth*s judgment on Scotch affairs. — Account of earl of Antrim.— -Wentworth's ill opinion of him. — Intriguing and assuming spirit of the queen. — Tyrannical conduct of Wentworth towards lord chancellor Lof^us. — Arrival of Mary de* Medici. — King enlarges Rich- mond park. — Earl of Newcastle appointed governor to the prince of Wales 325 MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF KING CHARLES L CHAPTER I. 1600 to 1625. Birth of Charles — Mis weakly infancy — Deformity of his legs — Impediment in his utterance. — Is brought to England and created duke of York, — His early faults of temper. — Good qualities — Acquirements — Taste for objects of art.-^Is created iPrince of Wales. — Attended by Scotchmen. — His religious instruction. — Dr. Hakewill — Treachery of the prince towards him. — Attends his mother^ s funeral and his father^ s. — His tm- pleasant position at his father'*s court — Buckingham's inso^ lence. — He conciliates the prince — Attends him to Madrid-^ Treatment and behaviour of the prince there — Jealousy of the king of Spain. — Return of the prince and duke. — Fedse state^ ments of Buckingham vouched by the prince^ who shares in his measures €igainst the earl of Middlesex and the earl of Bristol*'-^ Anecdote of his pertinacity. — His professions against popery. — Marriage treaty with France*, — Holland sent ambassador.---' Intrigues of Mary of Medieis.^^Character of HoUand-^His letters to the prince. — Earl of Carlisle joined in commissions^ Treaty iU-conducted. — Marriage articles. CHARLES STUART second son of James YI. of Scot- land by Anne of Denmark his queen, was born at the royal castle of PumferniUne in Scotland on November 9, 1600. On account of the weakness of the infant, it was judged ex- pedient to hasten his baptism ; the prince of Rohan, the chief of the French hugonots, and his brother Soubise^ kins* men of the bouse of Guise, were his godfathers* At three Vol. I. 1 14 years of age, he was committed to the care of the lady of sir George Gary, afterwards created earl of Monmouth, who mentions, in his memoirs of himself, that the young prince was not yet able to stand, owing to weakness and distortion of the legs, an infirmity which he inherited from his father. Under the attentive and judicious management of lady Gary, the weakly constitution of the young prince gradually im-» proved ; it became firm and vigorous when he had attained to manhood, and he is said to have exhibited considerable activity in his sports and exercises ; his stature however re- mained below the middle size, and the deformity of his child- hood was never entirely corrected.* Another natural defect under which he laboured proved a more serious inconve- nience ; this was an impediment in utterance, which through life was apt to manifest itself whenever he became earnest in discourse, and which had doubtless a ^at share in pro- ducing the taciturnity for which he was remarkable. On completing his fourth year, Gharles was at length brought to England, where ^he other members of the royal family had been for many months established, and on Tweltb» day 1605 he was created a knight of the Bath with twelve companions, and afterwards solemnly invested with the dignity of duke of York. We search in vain among contemporary letters ftnd memoirs for early anecdotes of this prince. During the life of that spirited and somewhat boisterous youth his elder brother, who took pleasure in turning into ridicule his seden- tary and studious habits, he was of course a very subordi- nate object of publie interest ; even after the death of Henry had rendered him immediate heir to the British crowns, he appears to have 'lived much in seclusion ; and when seen, his manners and deportment were not greatly, adapted either to flatter the hopes or win upon the affections of the people. " His childhood,'' says his encomiastic biographer Perin- chief, ** was blemished with a supposed obstinacy, for the weakness of his body inclining him to retirements^ and the imperfection of his speech rendering discourse tedious and unpleasant, he was suspected to be somewhat perverse." ** He was noted,*' says another writer, " to be very wilful and obstinate by queen Anne his mother and some others who were about him The old Scottish lady his nurse was used to affirm so much, and that he was of a very evil nature * In the fiD« equMtriaa portrmit by Vandyke now M Hampton eo«l,a aulriratiire at the knee ia diatuictly riaible. 15 evea in his infancy ; and the ladjr who after took charge of him cannot deny but that he was beyond measure wilful and unthankful.'' * As he advanced in age, these faults of temper, though never eradicated, were however checked in their growth bj the expansion of his faculties, and other qualities began at the same time to unfold themselves which were observed with approbation and respect. His reserve acted as a preservative ugainst any notorious indulgence in the common excesses of youth ; he was moderate in his expenses, prudent in his ccm- duct, regular at his devotions ; his industry was considerable, and his pursuits for the most part respectable or elegant. King James, who exulted in the title of the most learned prince in Christendom, was anxious that his son should suc- ceed to this commendation, and he exerted his efforts to in- spire him with a preference for his own objects of pursuit *At the premature age of ten, he was made to go through the forms of holding a public disputation in theology^ and he ac- tually acquired a more than princely familiarity with the polemics of the time. His own inclinations however led him chiefly to the study of mechanics and the fine arts. An at- tached adherent has thus described his various accomplish- ments. " With any artist or good mechanic, traveller, or scholar, he would discourse freely; and as he was commonly improved by them, so he often gave light to them in their own art or knowledge. For there were few gentlemen in the world that knew more of useful or necessary learning than this prince did : and yet his pioportion of books was but «maH, having like Francis the first of France learned more by the ear than by study. His exercises were manly, for he rid the great horse very well ; and on the little saddle he was not only adroit, but a laborious hunter or fieldman, and they were wont to say of him, that he never failed to do any of his exercises artificially, but not very gracefully ; like some well-proportioned faces which yet want a pleasant air of countenance."! A collection of antiques and other objects of curiosity be- queathed to him by prince Henry appears first to have direct- ed his attention towards painting and sculpture ; the taste was afterwards fostered in him by the duke of Buckingham, ♦ Lilly's ObservtUionSt p. 2. t Memtdrs of sir PhUip Wmrwick, pp. €5, 6S. 16 and bis merits as a connoisseur, and a patron of art and ar- tists were unquestionably great. At the age of sixteen Charles was solemnly created prince of Wales, and a numerous household was formed for him, of which it is remarkable that almost all the officers were Scotch. Mr. Murray his tutor, who had been about him from his sixth year, was also of this nation, and a preabyte- nan. These circumstances excited many fears and jealous- ies ; and on occasion of a dangerous illness of the king's ia 1618, we are told that bishop Andrews, ** as a confessor to his majesty, took an opportunity of expressing to him the sad con- dition of the church if God should at that time determine his royal life; the prince having only been conversant with Scotchmen, who made up the greater part of his family, and were ill-affected to the government and worship of the chnreh of England.'' Struck by this representation, the king made^ a vow, that if God should be pleased to restore his health, he' would give his son such instruction in religious controversy as should secure his affections to the English establishment ; and so confident did he afterwards feel of the success of his efforts, th^t on giving his last instructions to the chaplains who were to attend the prince in Spain, while he cautioned them to avoid theological disputations as much as might be, he remarked however, that should any by chance arise, his son would be able to moderate in them. The divines express- ing by their looks something of incredulity, he added with vehemence ; " Charles shall manage a point of controversy with the best studied of you all."* The religious instructor who was placed about the prince in consequence of the representations of bishop Andrews was Dr. Hakewill, an eminent divine of Oxford, whose zeal was basely requited by his pupil on the following occasion. In the year 1621, when the long pending negotiations for the marriage of Charles with the Spanish infanta began to be pursued with a near prospect of success. Dr. Hakewill, moved solely, as it should appear, by a sense of duty to reli- gion, to his country, and to the prince himself, drew up a small tractate calculated to dissuade him from marriage with a catholic princess. This he offered to him in manuscript, entreating him at the same time to conceal it from the king, " or he should be undone for his good will.'' Charles took the piece, we are (sld, with many thanks, and promised that ♦ Kennel's ComplHe HiH. iil p. 2. * V 17 <* it should never go further than the cabinet of his own breast ;*' but at the same time inquired to whom it had been commanicated previously. Hakewill replied, that he had shown it to the archbishop of Canterbury, who on returning it said, ** Well done, thou good and faithful servant ;'' and that Mr. Murray had likewise seen it, but no one else. Two hours after, the prince, regardless of hb promise, carried the piece to the king ; by whose iltegol command Hakewill, in common with all others who had ventured to declare their opposition to this favorite measure of his policy, was thrown into prison ; on his liberadon he was immediately deprived of his office about the prince, and for ever debarred of further preferment Murray was also disgraced on the occasbn, although he had earnestly endeavoured to'dtssoade Hakewill from risking the presentation of bis piece to the prince ; but the provostship of Eton was afterwards confer- red upon him in recompense of his long service.* The jealousy with which a reigning prince is generally un- derstood to regard his successor, has often the effect of placing the heir to a throne in a position as trying to the temper as it is on many other accounts unfavourable to the formation of the character and moral habits ; and Charles, during his early years, was unfortunate enough to be ex- posed to the double mortification of finding himself a cypher at his father's court, and of beholding an assuming minion disposing with absolute command of offices and honours, at- tracting universal homage, and filling the scene with his up- start magnificence. It is not improbable that the retired mode of life adopted by the prince on the' formation of his household, was prompted in part by a dissatisfaction at the predominance of Buckingham which he feared at first to ex- press more plainly ; but when his manly age, the real con- sequence which was his birthright, and his own increasing interest in public business, for which he had considerable aptitude, forbade him longer to shroud himself in obscurity, collision became inevitable, and there succeeded an open jealousy and resentment on the part of the prince, provoked by acts of almost incredible insolence and audacity on that of the favorite. On one occasion, in presence of a great company, Buck- * The pftrtieaUrs of this itory are derired from Weldon's ObaervatUnt ^ kmg Charles ; but the general fact that bis opoontion to the Spanish match was the cause of HakewiiPs disgrace, we also collect from his article in Wood's t9thin» OtPOfi. 18 inghain is related to have defied his future sovereign in terms of the vilest and most insulting scuriility ; on another, some dispute having arisen between them at balloon, or tennis, be cried out to him ; ** By God it shall not be so, nor you shall not have it I** lifting up his racket at the same time in such a position that the prince exclaimed, ** What ! my lord, 1 think you intend to strike me." We are left to conjecture in vain of what nature the expla- nations, submissions, or reparations could be which sufficed to obliterate from the mind of Charles all memory, or at least • all resentment, of conduct bo outrageous ; th^t such were of- fered we are informed by Clarendon; and it is uncertain whether Buckingham made, or only sealed his peace, by first causing to be suggested to the prince, and afterwards finding means to carry into effect, the romantic design of his journey to Bpain for the purpose of wooing the infanta. No sooner was this enterprise concerted between them^ &an Charles, in his eagerness for its accomplishment, suffer- ed the duke in his own presence, to bully his royal father into a reluctant acquiescence ; and during their journey the duke improved his opportunities with so much acuteness and ad- dress, as to establish over the mind of the prince that ascen- dency which he preserved to the last moment of his brief career. As a piece of political history, the long and fruitless mar- riage treaty with the court of Spain, belongs to the reign of king James; but some particulars more personal to the prince, and important-to the illustration of his character and principles, claim to be here discussed. It cannot be doubted that Buckingham, so far from being originally adverse to the Spanish match, as some have sug- gested, had long been using secret means to augment the impatience of the prince for its completion ; of which be designed to arrogate to himself the whole merit ; and having thus cancelled all former . offences, to prolong into another reign the duration of his power and favor. To Gondomar, who is understood to have been his secret ally in the affair, he had thus expressed himself several months before the pro- ject of the prince's journey was disclosed "To con- clude all, I will use a similitude of hawkidg, which you will easily understand, being a great falconer. I told you already that the prince is, God be thanked, extremely sharp 9tt upon this match ; and you know that a hawk when she is first dressed and made ready to fly, having a great will upon her, 19 if the falconer do not fallow it at that time, she is in danger to be dulled for ever after. Take heed therefore ieat, in th« fault of your delays there, our prince and falcon gentle, that you know was thought slow enough to begin to be eager after the feminine prey, become not so dull upon these de- layp, as in short time after he will not stoop to the lure, though it were thrown out to him."* But the Spanish court, even if at this time sincere in the treaty, was at least bent on procrastinating its conclusion till the ruin of the unfortunate elector Palatine should be consummated ; and it neither de* parted in consequence of these admonitions from what king James called its '* dull diligence,'' nor yet, when the prince arrived to urge his suit in person, could it be induced, in com- plimeut to his gallantry, to relax in the smallest degree the rigor of its etiquette. He was never permitted to converse with his mistress for an instant without witnesses, nor was she allowed to receive and answer his letters. No other fa- vor was granted him than to sit near her in public, to address her through an interpreter, and to gaze at her ; but of this last privilege he is said to have made such ^mple use, that he was sometimes observed to keep his eyes fixed upon her with- out moving for half an hour together. He watched her, said Gk>ndomar, as a cat watches a mouse. The court and people of Madrid esteemed in Charles a sobriety, gravity and stateliness of demeanor closely resem- bling their own, and a magnificent bounty to which they bad seen nothing comparable ; but it was with extreme wonder and disgust that they beheld him patiently endure the disre- spectful and even impertinent familiarity of a favorke who took no pains to conceal either the levity and presumption of his character or the gross licentiousness of his life. It would be difficult to assign rules for the conduct of a protestant prince who visits a catholic country as the suitor of a catholic princess. In such a situation some sacrifices of dignity and consistency seem unavoidable. But when we find Charles concurring with Buckingham in uiging his father to consent that a promised acknowledgment of the pope's supremacy on his own part should stand as a preliminary ar- ticle of the treaty ; — ansv^ering a letter addressed to him by the pontif with warm professions of respect for the " Hdy Father,** and wishes for an unity of religion between then, accompanied by a declaration that be had never fek any ♦ Cai«^, p. SS6. to hostility towards that of Rome ; — and adding by a secret article two years to the age up to which it was stipulated that the children of the marriage should remain under their mother's tuition ; — every protestant will feel and own that the limits of allowable and expedient compliance were on this occasion greatly overpassed. Nor could it surely be regarded as a palliation of the conduct of Charles, should it be ad« mitted that he meant nothing by such professions but empty compliments, and regarded articles inserted in a solemn treaty and confirmed by the oaths of all the parties, as words of no consequence or effect In other particulars he was not leas chargeable with gross dissimulation and the unhesitating em» ployment of prombes and protestations never intended to be fulfilled or acted up to. It was his la»% act before quitting Madrid to swear to the terms of the treaty and lodge his marriage proxy with the earl of Bristol ; his^^t, on enteritig an English ship of war at St. Andero's, to express indigna- tion at the injuries which he declared himself to have receiv- ed at the hands of that court and king which he bad just quitted with the warmest expressions of esteem and affection, and to forbid by a private order the delivery of the marriage- proxy which he had publicly given. How far- Charles might have been led to regard the employment of artifice as necessary to secure his safe return to England, is a question which it is not easy to solve. A ^;ood deal of mystery still hangs over the real history of this whole transaction ; but there appears to be sufficient evidence that almost at the exact moment of the quarrel between Olivares and Buckingham, the English favorite received from the elector Palatine secret offers of friendship, and even of an alliance between their children, on condition of his employing his influence to break off the treaty of marriage ; and that thus motives of personal interest and ambition conspired with the offended pride which already disposed him to disconcert the measures of the court of Spain. After this, there can be no doubt that he would avail himself of every pretext to instil into the mind of Charles a persuasion of the insincerity of that court in its negotiations, and even apprehensions for his personal safety f but it is also certain that the prince had met with real indij^ities ; for this even the earl of Bristol, the min- ister most interested in the success of the treaty, is compelled to acknowledge in a letter iddressed to Charles for the purpose of urging him, nevertheless, to complete the marriage. In the time of your being here,'' says he, ^^ admitting that their proceedingi btve beea in many thtngs unworlhy of you^ and that divert dittastes hare araea by interveoient accidenta, now things are reduced to those teims that the matefa itself is sure." A remarkable anecdote on this subject occurs in the Me* moirs of Anne of Austria by Madame de Motteville, who gives it on the authority of queen Henrietta Maria, with whom she had much confidential intercourse at Paris during the civil wars of England, and afterwards. It is to this effect : That when the king her husband was at Madrid, finding the queea of SpatOy a French princess and elder sister to Henrietta, mucli to his taste, be sometimes sought opportunities of addressing her without an interpreter in Frencn ; and that having apokea only a few words to her, she replied in a whisper, *^ I dare not speak to you in this language without leave, but I will ask it :" That having obtained it, she conversed with htm onoe, when she told him, that she should rather have wbhed him to marry her sister Henrietta : That after this conversation, perhaps on some tokens which he gave of liking to see her at the theatre, he was privately desired to speak to her no more, because it was the fashion in Spain to poison queens* gallants. [* After this charitable hint,'' it is added, ** he never talked with her again, nor could he even see her plainly, for she was never at the theatre but in a close box."* These outrageous demonstrations of a jealousy which must haye been tiiuch more political than con}ugal,-*Hiince nothing was more notorious than the libertinism of Philip HI. and kia neglect of his con&ort,-— «ould not fail highly to irritate the prince of Wales, and it is evident from many signs^ that In breaking the match and urging on a war with Spain, ha was strongly impelled by passions of his own, not merely swayed by the representations or persuasions of Buckingham. Charles, in fact, was far from inheriting the pliancy of Us father's disposition, or his consequent propennty to favorit- ism ; and whatever hold Buckingham might gradually gain upon his affections, faith is due to the declaration once made by iiimself when king, that the capacity in which the duke was received and valued by him was solely that of a servant who distinguished himself by a prompt and effective perform* ance of bu master^s will. The prince and his attendant re« tamed however to England, strongly united by the bond of a i.p.l84,s«t. d^Ammniam, 176a Vol. I. t 22 common enmity and a commoh purpose of revenge ; while the views of private interest which quickened the zeal of the duke appear to have escaped entirely the penetration of the prince. The overflowing joy of king James at the sight of bis fa- vorite bringing back to him his son, for whose freedom his fears had been studiously excited, prepared him to lend an indulgent ear to the plausible tale by which they sought to exculpate themselves for bringing failure on the project which had cost him years of negotiation and still lay nearest to his heart ; and after venting his anger in a few chiding speeches^ be remained silenced, though neither satisfied nor convinced. A parliament was soon after assembled by the desire of Buckingham, when Charles, in a conference of the two bouses^ warmly expressed his confidence in the duke, and his gratitude towards- him for his care over him in Spain, and especially for bringing him safe out of it ; and ended by re- ferring the parliament to. him for a relation of the causes of the rupture. It was in Charles's own presence that this re- lation was delivered, charging the Spanish court with bad faith in the treaty from beginning to end, and the^ earl of Bristol with corrupt participation in its treachery, and also with attempts to persuade the prince to change his religion. All historians admit, and the original letters of Buckingham to king James demonstrate, that this narration was not mere- ly tinged by the coJoting of passion and prejudice, but abso- lutely distorted and falsified, both in its general bearings and in many important particulars, and yet there was no scruple on the part of the prince to sanction the whole, both directly, by a^ solemn and public attestation to its truth, and indirectly by concurring with the efforts of the duke to im- press upon parliament the necessity of an immediate com- mencement of hostilities against Spain. In all the subsequent measures employed by Buckingham to crush the party in the council opposed to the war, Charles was deeply implicated. On the impc^achment of lord l%b treasurer Middlesex, entered upon in defiance of the most earnest entreaties and warnings of his royal father, he took the highly unbecoming step of soliciting many of the peers^ as a favor to himself, to give their voices against him ; and he lent himself to all the, arbitrary and iniquitous means by which the duke succeeded in stifling the evidence which that honor- able and injured statesman the earl of Bristol, was eager to produce to the king and parliament in vindication of bis own 23 integrity aiid that of the court of Madrid. He iook less pari in those flatteries addressed to the popular party in the house of comnionsy and the puritanical party in the church, by which Buckingham rendered himself for a few moments the hero of opposition,— for to these arts of government the tem- per and the maxims of Charies were equally adverse ; yet he deigned to appear on some occasions in the character of a friend to the power and jurisdiction cf parliaments, and he suffered the duke to place about him in the office of a chap- Iain Dr. Preston, a leading presbyterian divine whom it was judged important to gam over. Charles's characteristic quality of pertinacious adherence to his. own principles or opinions, now began strongly to dis- play itself to those who approached him. In the diary of ftrchbishop Laud we find the following entry dated Feb. 1, 1624. ^^ I stood by the most illustrious prince Charlea at dinner. He was then very merry, and talked of many things occasionally with his attendants. Among other things he said, that if he were necessitated to take any particular pro- fession of life, lie could not be a lawyer ; adding his reasons. ** I cannot,^ saith he, " defend a bad, nor yield in a good cause.'* The prelate subjoins an ill-omened wish that he m\ghtihu9 forever prosper in his great affairs 1 Charles is recorded to have said publicly on his return from Madrid, that though he had never loved popery, he had not hated it till he saw it in the court of Spain ; but as if to show that he hated it only there, he had scarcely freed him- self -from the snares of one catholic marriage-treaty, than he rushed with his eyes open into those of another. In contem- plation of a rupture with Spain, it was indeed obvious policy to seek the alliance of Prance ; and Buckingham on his re- turn to England lost no time in dispatching the most favored of his adherents, Henry Rich, now created lord Kensington and soon after earl of Holland, as ambassador extraordinary to Louis XIII. As the treaty for the hand of the infanta was still ostensibly carried on, by virtue of powers remaining with the earl of Bristol, the conclusion of a league offensive and defensive between the two countries was the only object of the mission as yet avowed, but Rich was also charged se- cretly to sound the disposition of the French court towards a matrimonial connection between the prince of Wales and Henrietta Maria daughter of Henry IV. and sister of the reigning monarch. These hasty addresses were as little con- sistent with true policy as with the personal honor of Charles 34 who authorized them. They apprised the Freoch mioiatrj that the breach of the Spaniah treaty was regarded as irrepa- rable, and taught them to set a higher price on the frieodship of their sovereigjiy now doubly important to the British room* arch. Mary de' Medici, the queen mother, applied herself to improve the opportunity with all the craft and spirit of in* trigue which distinguished her. She employed agents to negotiate for the marriage in England without the privity of the king her son, and whilst the French ministers d^ilfuUy held back from the conclusion of the political alliance, no means were spared or scrupled by herself or her agents to hasten on the nuptials. If ever the welfare and honor of the nation required that the blandishments and refinements of French intrigue should be encountered on the part of an English negotiator by m steady zeal for the interests of his king and country ; by ex* perience, sagacity, extensive political knowledge, and a pro- bity beyond suspicion, it was certainly on Uiis occasion ; when a marriage involving the spiritual as well as temporal interests of the royal line, was to be combined with a league on which hung the fortunes of the exiled Palatine and the other dispossessed princes of Germany, of the French Hu- gonots, and in fact of the whole protestant interest. But4he weaknesses and partialities of James bad caused an age of statesmen to be succeeded by one of mere courtiers and favo- rites, by whom the most important public functions were at this juncture nearly monopolized. Of this base class Hol- land was one of the basest. Pergonal beauty and frivolous accomplishments, with great suppleness and a talent for court intrigue, had been bis passports to the favor of the king and of Buckingham, and raised him from the state of a needy younger brother of a dishonored house to fortune, honors and influence. To preserve or augment these advantages through the same arts which had served for their acquisition, was now his care ; and when once he bad assured himself, by means of the duchess de Chevreuse who was in love with him, that his own influence with the future queen was secur- ed, no considerations of a public nature led him to embarrass the progress of the negotiations with rigid stipulations or jealous scruples. He has left us the measure of his mind in the following and similar passages of his fulsome dispatches - addressed to the prince. " I find here so infinite a value of your person and virtue* as what instrument soever^ myself one of the very weakest. havmg BOOie commandt as they ittiagtnc from you^ ahall r^ ceive excess of honor from tbem. They will not conceire me, scarce receive me, hot as a public instrument for the service of an alliance that above all things in this world they do so earnestly desire. The queen-mother hath expressed, as far as she thinks is fit for the honor of her daughter, great good will in it. .... . . And sir,, if your intentions proceed this way, (as by many reasons of state and wisdom there is cause now rather to pre«s it than slacken it) you will find a lady of as much loveliness and sweetness to deserve your af« fection as any creature under heaven can do. And sir, by all her fashions since my being here, and by what I hear from the ladies, it is most visible to me her infinite value and re- spect unto you. Sir, I say not this to betray your belief but from a true observation and knowledge of this to be so : I tell you this, and must somewhat rooix in the way of ohseTva- tionof the person of Madame ; for the impressions I had of her were but ordinary, but the amazement extraordinary to find her, as I protest to Grod I did, the sweetest crenture in France. Her growth is very little short of her age, and her wisdom infinitely beyond it. I heard her converse, with her mother and the ladies about her with extraordinary discretion and quickness. She dances, the which I am a witness of, as well as ever I saw any creature. They say she sings most sweetly ; I am sure she looks so." ** I cannot but make you continual repetitions of the value you have here to be, as justly we know you, the most com* plete young prince and person in the world. This reputa* tion hath begotten in the sweet princess Madame so infinite an affection to your fame, as she could not contain herself from a passionate desiring to see your picture, the shadow of that person so honored, and not knowing by what means to compass it, it being worn about my neck, — for though others, ^a the queen and princess, would open it and consider it, the which ever brought forth admiration from them, yet durst not this poor young lady look any otherwise on it than afar off, whose heart was nearer it than any of the others that did most gaze upon it : — But at the last, rather than want that sight which she was so impatient of, she desired the gen- tlewoman of the house where I am lodged, that had been her servant, to borrow of roe the picture in all the secrecy that may be, and bring it unto her, saying, she could not want that curiosity, as well as others, towards a person of his in- finite reputation. Aa soon as she saw the party that brought S6 It, she retired into her cabinet, calling only fier in ; where the opened the picture in such haste as showed t true pic- ture of her passion, blushing in the instant at her own guitt- iness. Bhe kept it an hour in her hands, and when she re- turned it) she gave it many praises of your person. Bir, this is a business so fit for your secrecy, as I know it shall never go further than unto the king your father, my lord the duke of Buckingham, and my lord of Carlisle's knowledge. A tenderness in this is honorable ; for I would rather die a thousand times than it should be published* since I am by this young lady trusted, that is for beauty and goodness an angel.** Having thus attempted to excite the passions* by flattering the vanity of the prince, he adds, ** I have receiv- ed from my lord of Buckingham an advertisement that your highnesses opinion is, to treat of the general league first, that will prepare the other. Sir, whatsoever shall be propounded Will have a noble acceptation ; though this give me leave to tell you, when you are free, as J>y the next news we shall know you to be, they will expect that upon those declarations they have already made towards that particularity of the alli- ance, that your highness will go that readier and nearer way to unite and fasten by that knot the affection of these king- doms.'^* The better judgment of Charles himself in this matter being thus overruled by the management of Holland, in con- cert with the French court, the marriage was propounded in form before a single step was taken towards forming the league, and matters were in this state when the Spanish treaty being broken off in form. Hay, created earl of Carlisle on the occasion, was joined in commission with Holland to con^^ elude the affair. The earl of Carlisle, though preeminent even among the courtiers of James for the extravagance, and even absurdity, of his pomp and profusion, had yet some claims to the char- acter of a man of business and a statesman. His Scottish birth and presbyterian education had nourished in him a pro- found distrust and dread of the encroaching spiritof the Romish church, and he penetrated with sagacity and opposed with spi- rit in several instances the insidious manoeuvres of the French. But he was ill-supported at home ; for the articles implying a suspension of the penal laws against the catholics, which in any treaty with a foreign power ought at once to have been * CaboU, pp. 387, 98B, fol. edit. . 37 set attde as nncoiistitufional, and therefore no object of nego- tiation, were conceded without hesitation or scruple by the king and the prrince; and apparently from the disgraceful * cause assigned by a French diplomatbt; that *' there was originally no intention in these contracting parties to keep their engagements, but to promise all that should be required, and' to keep only what suited them."* To the reproach of all protestant principle, the earl of Nithsda^le, a catholic, was sent to Rome to solicit a dispensa- tion for the marrbge, and to cultivate a future good under- standing with the sovereign pontif; — to the disgrace of aU political wisdom, verbal assurances of cooperation on the part of France in measures for the restoration of the Pala- tinate were accepted as a satisfactory security. Yet it is evi- dent from the following passage of a letter from the earl of Holland to Buckingham, tnat Charles himself still manifested reluctance to assume the character of a suitor. ** I beseech you» put the prince in mind to send his mistress a letter : And though I might, as the first instrument employed in his amours, ejcpect the honor to deliver it, yet will I not give my colleague that cause of envy. But if bis highness will write a private letter to Madame, and in it express some particular trust of me, and that my relations of her have increased his passion and affection unto her service, I shall receive much honor and some right, since I only have expressed what concerned his passion and affection towards her.^f Whilst the treaty was yet pending, a change in the French ministry placed cardinal Richelieu at the head of affairs, who contrived to impede its ratification till he had succeeded in extorting new concessions from the facility or treachery of the Englbh ministry. The claim of the princes of the Roman church to take precedence of all but kings, caused at first some perplexity in point of etiquette, which could only be ' solved by Richelieu's feigning sickness and receiving the visit of the earl of Carlisle in bed ; and the cardinal further ex- hibited his own arrogance and offended that of the dictator of the English court, by addressing a letter to ^' Monsieur^ — ^not Monseigneur — ^Me due de Buckingham;'' who retorted by directing his answer to *^ Monsieur le cardinal de Richelieu." This impertinent squabble of punctilio might even have gone on to occasion the breach of the treaty, had not both parties * jSMa$$tde en AnffeUrre in M€r€$ekal de BMseompiere, t CaMa,^%Zi. bad their private reaions to desire tts compleiioiiy and there- fore condescended to a reeonciliation. All the stipulations in behalf of the catholic religion which had been accorded in the late negotiation with SpaiOy were now soccessfullj demanded by France ; on other points some things additional were granted ; splendid preparations for the nuptials were made on both sides of the water, and thej were on the eve of celebration when the death of his royal father on March 27, 1625, elevated the destined bridegroom from the expectancy of a throne to its occupation. 39 CHAPTER II. 1625. Siaie of England ai the accession of Charks. — Voyages of cUs^ covery and extension of commerce. — Colonies founded in North America, — Commerce ill protected by king James. — Englishmen made captive by Barbary corsairs. — Dunkirk pirates. — Low state of the navy. — Rapid progress of luxury. — Court enter' iainments. — Country hospitality. — Luxury in furniture. — To- pestry. — Paintings. — Rich materials of furniture. — Inigo Joneses architecture. — Taste for sculpture revived. — Collections of the earl of Arundel and duke of Buckingham. — Researches of sir Thomas Roe for -antiques at Constantinople. — State of literature. — Translations. — Books of voyages and travels.. — Hackluyt. — Purchases Pilgrimage. — 8andys*s Travels.-^HiS' tory. — Camden. — Speed. — Daniel. — Biography. — Lord Het" bert of Cherbury. — Bacon. — Antiquities, — Spelman. — Cotton, — Selden and Usher. — Theology. — Donne. — HctU. — Bishop Andrews. — State of Poetry. — Donne. — Waller. — Suckling. — Oarew. — Ben Johnson. — His criticisms on contemporary poets^ — Massinger. — Shirley. — Decline of the drama. — Extended plans of education. — PeachartCs Complete Gentleman. — Lord Herberfs plan of study. — Female accomplishments. — Sir M. Hale on education of daughters — of sons. — Condition of young' tr brothers. — Art of Thriving. — Disuse of tilts and toumor ments. — Duelling. — Effects of wearing weapons. — Ladies cud» gel their maids. — Court diversions. — Strict separation of ranks^ broken down by king James. — Effects of increasing the number of peers. — Concluding remarks. THE uK^jlisputed soyereignty of the British isles, appears at first sight an iDberitance which, well improved, could not fail to render its possessor, abroad and at home, one of the most powerful princes of Europe ; but in order to appreciate cor- rectly the circumstances favorable or adverse under which it descended upon Charles I., it will be proper to take a general view of the state of manners, commerce, society and litera- ture at the period of his accession. James I. had received the kingdom of England from the hands of his illustrious predecessor rich in resources of every kind, the accumulation of five and forty years of a wise. Vol. I. 3 so frugal, and vigilant administration. The union of the British crowns in his person, though it brought little direct addition to the wealth of England, was yet an accession highly con- ducive to its internal strength and tranquillity, and eventual- ly to its general prosperity ; and whilst the heedless prodigal- ity of this prince had impoverished the crown, by the aliena- tion of lands or the anticipation of its other principal sources of independent revenue, his profound peace of two and twen- ty years bad afforded to his subjects leisure and ample facili- ties for the acquisition of wealth and the culture of every art by which human life is supported and adornedj and the ac- tive genius of the people had largely availed itself of these advantages. Weary of the monotony and stagnation of a pacific court, the enterprising spirits of the time, both under Elizabeth and James, had eagerly thrown themselves into voyages of discovery, which had sometimes indeed degenerated into mere buccaneerf&g expeditions against the Spanish settle- ments in the new fonnd regions of the West ; but of which the general and ultimate results were of incalculable impor- tance in promoting, together with the extension of trade, the progress of knowledge, and of civilization. The same spirit of adventure had guided English prows in the track opened by the Portuguese to the shores of Hindostan, and impelled English travellers to explore by land the kingdoms of western Asia. It was about the close of the feign of iElizabeth that the learned Hackluyt was enabled thus to sum up, with becoming pride, the results of all the missions of discovery and commerce sent forth either under the imme- diate auspices of the queen, or those of the trading compa-^ nies established by her. *^ Which of the kings of this land before her majesty had their banners ever seen in the Caspian sea ? Which of them hath ever dealt with the emperor of Persia, as her majesty hath done, and obtained for her merchants large and loving i>rivileges 1 Who ever saw before this regiment an English ieger in the stately porch of the grand Seignor of Constan- tinople ? Who ever found English consuls and agents at Tripolis in Syria, at Aleppo, at Babylon, at Balsara, and which is more, who ever heard of Englishmen at Goa be- fore now 1 What English ships did heretofore ever anchor in the mighty river of Plate, pass and repass the unpassable, in former opinion, strait of Magellan, range along the coast of CbiK, Peru, and all the backside of Nova Hispania, further 91 than any Christian ever passed, traverse the mighty breadth of the South sea, land] upon the Luzones in despite of the enemy, enter into alliance, amity and traffic with the prince of the Moluccas and the isle of Java, double the famous Cape of Bona Speranza, arrive at the isle of Santa Helena, and last of all return home most richly laden with the com- modities of China, as the subjec.s of this now jQourishing monarchy have done 1"* During the reign of James all the marts of trade here in- dicated continued to be frequented with increasing diligence, and additional ones were opened. The woollen ploths of England, as well as its tin and its copper, were now bartered for the gold and raw silk of Penna ; an intercourse was open- ed with. the great Mogul ; and English ships maintained on the eoast of Coramandel a carrying trade of sufficient impor- tance strongly to excite the jealousy of the Portuguese. The first attempts at colonization in the New .World, o£ which Raleigh was the leader, bad failed ; in fact, at the end of the sixteenth century England was n,ot yet possessed of a single foreign settlement, but since that period prosperous plantations had been formed on various points of the North American coast. Lord Delaware, a catholic, had established one in Vii^inia ; governor Guy bad formed another on the island of Newfoundland ; part of a congregation of persecut- ed independents, who had previously taken refuge in Holland, had laid the foundations of the important colony of New Ply- mouth, and a small band of emigrant puritans had planted themselves in New Hampshire. But all these were private undertakings, prompted by the love of enterprise and the hope of gain, by public spirit, or by the want of religious liberty ; and to which king James contributed nothing but his credentials or letters patent Daring the whole of his reign the merchants and naval adventurers complained heavily of the deficiency of that naval protection which it was the duty of tho state to have afibrded them: Amid the important demands of favorite courtiers on a fail- ing exchequer, this spiritless prince had suffered that glory and safeguard of the country, its navy, to sink into a state of feebleness and decay which exposed navigation to calamities and insults altogether unprecedented. For want of a few cruisers to repress their audacity, the Barbary corsairs made prey of English ships not in the Levant only, but in the nar- <■ HackbnfVs Voyages, Epistlf DedicAtorie. 3S row seas, actually in sif hi of the British coasts ; and the crews and passengers of the captured vessels were either mas- sacred without distinctbn by the pirates, or carried away into slavery and afterwards compelled to roan the Moorish galleys and aid in the commission of depredation and outrage upon their fellow-christians. It is mentioned by sir Thomas Roe, sent ambassador to Constantinople in 1621, that touching at the port of Messina in his way, he found in the galleys there fifteen English, who cried out to him as he passed to compassionate them : on in- quiry he found that two were renegades, but that the rest were captives originally pressed by the Turks into their service, who being taken on board their rovers by the Spaniards, had been by them reduced, like their shipmates, to the condition of galley-slaves. The ambassador asked and obtained the liberatbn of these men from the viceroy of Sicily, but as a special favor. Many captives were redeemed by Roe during his residence at the Porte, and he found it necessary to con- clude a disgraceful kind of treaty with the Dey of Algiers for the protection of British commerce in the Mediterranean, brought to the brink of destruction by the unpunished ravages of these barbarians. After the commencement of the war with Spain, the Channel was likewise infested by the privateers of Dunkirk, who made many captures off the coasts of Eng- land and Ireland. At this period therefore the British navy had reached its lowest stage of declension. The progress of luxury in dress, diet, furniture and dec- orations of every kind, had fully kept pace with the exteBsion of commerce and the increase of national wealth. In the article of court-dresses, especially those of men, the extravagance was such as no succeeding times have attempted to emulate. King James, amongst his other weaknesses, bad a childish admiration of what was then called bravery. His favorites could scarcely by their utmost efforts satisfy his de- mands upon them for splendor and variety in their personal decorations ; and the common phrase of a man's ** wearing his estate on his back,'* hyperbolical as it sounds in modern ears, could scarcely be called an exaggeration at a time when a court suit of the duke of Buckingham's was estimated at 60,0002. In their state entertainments the tables of the great groaned under lofty piles of dishes of massy silver, replenished with the most delicate as well as substantial viands, the cost of . which was enhanced by a wonderfully elaborate art of con- ' fectionary, and by the lavish use of ambergris, and some- times of musk and other scents to fufne and flavor the meats and wines. In conformity with this mode Milton describes. ii A table richly spread in regal mode. With dishes piled and meats of noblest sort And savor, beasts of chase or fowl of game. In pastry built, or from the spit, or boilM, Crrts^amber steamed '* and " The wine That fragrant smttt dijiised."* Thus also Beaumont and Fletcher, "Be sure The wines be lusty, light, and full of spirit, And amber^d all/'t Magisterial of pearl was likewise employed as an article of cookery. It is observable however, that whilst the court gave the example of this wantonness and absurdity of pomp and luxury, the simple old English hospitality in its primitive forms was still maintained by the independent portion of the nobility, who lived secluded in their own demesnes in the midst of hereditary tenants and retainers. The courtly poet Carew, several years after the accession of Charles I., thus describes in an epistle the feasting in the great hall of Wrest, the seat of the earls of Kent, in Bedfordshire ; which he de- scribes as a mansion unadorned with carved marble or por- phyry, with lofty chimney-pieces or Doric or Corinthian pillars, but built ^* for hospitality." " The lord and lady of this place delight Rather to be in act than seem in sight. Instead of statues to adorn their wall, They throng with living men their merry hall. Where, at large tables fill'd with wholesome meats. The servant, tenant, and kind neighbour eats : Some of that rank, span of a finer thread. Are with the women, steward and chaplain, fed With daintier cates ; others of better note, * Par. Regained, B. ii. t CtMtoin of tke OmfUry^ A. iii. Sc. 2. 84 Whom wealthy parto, office, or the herald^f coat Have severed from the common, freely sit At the lord's table, whose spread sides admit A large access of friends to fill those seats Of his capacious sickle^* fill'd with meats Of choicest relish, till his oaken back Under the load of piled-up dishes crack.'* The nobility and leading gentry of a former age, whose rude ideas of grandeur were comprised in a retinue of two or three hundred servants and retainers, and a mansion ca- pable of lodging and entertaining half a county, had reared enormous piles of building, court behind court, with long suites of galleries and saloons, which when built they knew not how suitably to furnish or adorn ; but taste and luxury were now busily at work upon their decoration. Under the patronage of king James, Sir Francis Crane had established at Mortlake in Surrey a manufactory where the weaving of tapestry was carried to great perfection ; de- signs both in history and grotesque being supplied by a native of Denmark named Cleyne, an admirable artist, patronized by the prince. In costliness its fabrics must apparently have vied with the finest of the Netherlands. Charles, in the first year of his reign, acknowledged a debt to Crane of 60001. for three sets of " gold hangings." Archbishop Williains paid him 2500/. for a piece representing the Four Seasons, and the more affluent of the nobility purchased of him at proportional prices various rich hangings ** wrought in silk." Foreign artists of considerable eminence were employed to paint walls, staircases, and ceilings with figures and arabes- ques, and collections of pictures began to be formed. Fine carving and gilding was bestowed on various articles of fur- niture ; and with such profusion were the richest materials brought into use, that state beds of gold and silver tissue, em- broidered velvet, or sHk damask fringed with gold ; silk car- pets from Persia ; toilets covered with ornamental pieces of dressing plate ; tables of massive silver richly embossed with figures ; and enormous'cabinets elaborately carved in ebony, became the familiar ornaments of the principal mansions. Inigo Jones, with taste matured by a second residence in Ita- ly, had begun to supply designs of edifices, both public and private, in which the Greek or Roman style in its purity and beauty, had superseded the incongruous mixtures of his ear- *■ A ourved dining-table. 35 lier works ; and king James, purposing to commit to him the task of rebuilding the ancient palace of Whilehall, bad al- ready caused him to execute the only part of the building v^hich was ever completed ; that noble banqueting house on the ceiling of which Rubens afterwards painted the apothesis of the monarch. The art of jsculptura could scarcely be scrid to exist in the land. Tombs and monuments executed by mere masons and stone-cutters, and gaudily bedecked with colors and gild- ing, marked the miserable declension of this branch since those ages when the arts and artists of Rome had found free entrance as followers in the train of her religion. But the deficiency was felt, and steps had already been taken for en- riching the country with a store of those immortal models be* queatbed to the world by Grecian antiquity. The earl of Arundel, the earliest and greatest of English collectcn*s, was eagerly prosecuting his inquiries after the re- mains of ancient art both in Europe and Asia ; and the splendid Buckingham, whether from genuine taste for. these objects, or from that passion for every kind of magnificence which sometimes assumes its semblance, trod zealously in bis footsteps. Sir Thomas Roc, when at Constantinople, acted as a kind of factor to both these noblemen for the discovery and pui^hase of marbles, coins, and other curiosities, and some interesting details on these matters are supplied by hi« correspondence. It appears that an extremely skilful and enterprising agent had been sent out by the earl of Arun- del specially to explore the continent and islands of Greece, and the shores of Syria and Lesser Asia ; the fruits of whose labors were no less than 200 pieces of sculpture. The re- searches of sir Thomas Roe on behalf of the duke of Buck- ingham, were extended by means of consuls, Greek priests, and other agents, from Smyrna to Prusa, Troy, and Perga- mus ; to Sinope on the Euxine ; and zealously prosecuted along the coasts of Thessaly, and at Delphi, Delos, Corinth, Thebes, Athens, Sparta, and many other Grecian cities and islands; and a splendid collection seems to have been the result of these efibrts>; although it is stated that, between the scruples of the Turks and the avidity of the Venetians, not a single statue was left standing, and all attempts to gain permission to make excavations were encountered by the usual jealousies of barbarians, who always imagine hidden treasure to be the real object of such researches. At Constantinople nothing was found worth removing ex- 36 ceptiag some groups in alto reliero orer the golden gate of the city, placed there by its founder ; and these sir Thomas Roe certainly spared no exertions to obtain. To ask permis-'* sion to deface the principal entrance of the Grand ^ignor's palace appeared too audacious ; the size of the pieces made it impracticable to carry them away clandestinely, and he therefore adopted the expedient of hiring a mufti to demand their removal on the plea of religion ; but it so happened that the government was not at this juncture disposed to listen to scruples of this nature^ At length, during a crisis of the Turkish treasury, the ambassador took courage, and offered a sum for the marbles to the great treasurer himself. The bribe was cordially accepted ; but, on the first attempt Uy take down the figures, a fancy seized the people that they were enchanted, and that the Christians knew of some old prophecy by which the fall of the city was connected with their removal. A violent tumult arose, the treasurer was obliged to deust for fear of his life, and the ambassador con- soled himself under his disappointment by observing, that though he^ failed to obtain the figures, he had almost raised an insurrection in that part of the city. Roe was likewise commissioned to procure Greek manu* scripts of the Scriptures and the Fathers for king James and archbishop Abbot, but he met with fewer objects of<.4his na- ture than he had hoped ; it was, however, throygh his hands that the celebrated Alexandrian manuscript of the Old and New Testament was transmitted by Cyril patriarch of Con- stantinople to Charles I. The ambassador collected coins and medals on his own ac- count, a catalogue of which he sent to that prodigal but ac- complished woman Lucy countess of Bedford, accompanied with a dissertation which could only be addressed with pro- priety to a respectable proficient both in numismatic science and the Latin language. A slight sketch of the state of literature will suffice to mark the important station which it now occupied in the general system of life and manners. Not in England alone, but throughout lettered Europe, knowledge had been long perceived by men of sagacity to be in a progressive and improving state. In the works of Acon- tius, a man of abilities and various learning, who wrote under the patronage of queen Elizabeth, the following striking ob- servation occurs. ^* I am aware that my lot is cast in an age of very great cultivation n yet I am not so much awed by the ^7 iudf ments which naW appear to rule, at alarmed at the risuif lig^hta of an ag^e of ^still greater cultivation which 1 antici* pate.** ** I believe/' says Bayle in commenting on this senti- ment, *^ that the sixteenth century produced a greater num- ber of men of learning than the seventeenth; yet the former age was not nearly so enlightened as the latter. During the reign of criticism and philology several prodigies of ecudition appeared throughout Europe. The study of the new philos- ophy and of modern languages having introduced a different taste, that vast and profound literature was no longer seen, but on the other hand a finer taste has been diffused over the republic ol[ letters, attended by a more accurate discernment. Men are now less learned and more able."* In conformity with these remarks, it is evident, that at the period of Charles's accession a lively curiosity after new and various knowledge had begun to take place in England of that exclusive devotion to the ancients which had prevailed from the time of the revival of letters ; that few men aimed at distinction by emulating the cumbrous erudition of the founders of modern scholarship ; and that general information began to be more prized than what is technically called learning. We find it affirmed, that few works of merit appeared in any country of Europe which were not speedily clothed in an English dress. Books of voyages and travels were printed in considerable numbers^ and read with avidity. Besides all the separate relations published by voyages, two large and important collections had appeared ; that by Hackluyt, a person of great knowledge and diligence in his own line of pursuit, who had been appointed lecturer on geography at Oxford, and was the first to introduce maps, globes and spheres into the common schools, and ** Purchas his Pilgrim- age," othei'wise ealled *'^ Hackluytus Posthumus ;" a volu- minous compilation by a chaplain of archbishop Abbots', de- signed to comprise whatever had been related concerning the religions of all nations, from the earliest times. That learned and accurate traveller George Sandy% had communicated to the public much information both on the classical antiquities and the modern state of Italy, Greece, Turkey in Europe, Palestine and Egypt. Knowles had published an esteemed history of the Turks, which has found several continuators ; and there bad been many val- * IM* 4f Bfuffi^^ Art. Atwietn Vol. I. 4 S8 uable contributions to national* bistory/ Camden had com- pleted bis Annals of queen Elizabeth, and made considerabte progress in those of her successory before his hand was arrest- ed by death : Speed had compiled a meritorious chronicle and that estimable man and writer Samuel Daniel had published a history of England remarkable for judgment and good sense, for purity of style, and for the novelty of commencing wiih the Norman conquest, instead of the Deluge, or the landing of Brute the Trojan, the usual starting-posts of the chroniclers. The life of Henry VIII. by lord Herbert of Cherbury, and above all, that of Henry YII. by lord Bacon, bad afforded excellent models in this kind of writing. Antiquities, general and national, civil and ecclesiastical, were diligently and ably cultivated by Spelman, the restorer of Anglo«saxon literature, by sir Robert Cotton, who was likewise occufned in the laborious work of collec- ting his noble library of manuscripts, and by Selden and Usher, those great names in European literature. Respecting tbe- olofl>79 it is sufficient in this place to advert to the well- known fact, that religious controversy was the mania of the age. A bare list of the writers in divinity during the reign of James, with the titles of their works, would make of itself a volume. Never was the warfare so keen between popery and protestantism, or the feud so active between the Calvinistic and Arminian parties within the church itselC The country could never before boast of so numerous a body of learned divines or attractive preachers ; but the pedantry, the quaintness, the labored subtilty, and, it must be added» the solemn and superstitious trifling with which they abound^ render the once admired productions of Donne, of Hall, of bishop Andrews and their followers, signal examples of the excess to which false taste and judgment may be carried by men of undoubted talents in an age of erudition. The same frigid and unnatural style prevailed in verse as in prose ; Donne had exhibited his quaint conceits in satires and amatory pieces before he had introduced them into sermons; they had gained for him the title of 4fa€ first poet of the age, and that the fashion of admiring him was not yet past is evident from the circumstance that Cowley, who at the end of James's reign wAs still in his childhdodj formed his style in great measure on this unfor- tunate model. But the graces of harmony and diction make too essential apart of the pleasure of poetry to be generally, or for a long period discarded ; and in little more 39 than twenty yeaw after the death of Spender, the master of melody to our elder school of poets, Waller was prelu- ding to the strains of Dryden and of Pope. Purity and sweetness of numbers seemed in Waller a free gift of the muses ; for his juvenile celebration of the escape of the prince of Wales from shipwreck on his return from Spain^ is scarcely excelled in these respects by any of his more mature productions. Suckling was beginning to tune his ▼crse to the harmony of Waller, for which he seems to have abandoned the imitation of Donne ; and Carew and a numerous troop of gentlemen-writers prepared to hail the accession of a monarch whose court was to be the asylum of the arts and the home of the graces. Ben JoDson, whose extensive learning, vigorous judgment and classic taste, had caused him to be revered as the great arbiter of literary claims, still presided with absolute sway over the circle of lettered courtiers and rising wits, though far in the wane both of life and genius ; and in that eollection of miscellaneous remarks called his Discoveries, we find him thus aptly characterizing the rival schools of verse which were at this time contending for the mastery. ^* Tou have others that labor only to ostentation, and are ever more busy about the colors and surface of a work than in the mat- ter and foundation ; for that is hid, the other is seen. Oth- ers that in composition are nothing but what is rough and broken. Qus per salebras altaque saxa cadunt And if it would come gently, they trouble it of purpose. They would not have it run without rubs ; as if that style were more strong and manly that stroke the ear with a kind of uneven- Mess. These men err not by chance, but knowingly and wil- lingly ; they are like men that affect a fashion by themselves, have some singularity in a ruff, cloke or hatband ; or their * beards specially cut to provoke beholders and set a mark upon themselves. ....... Others there are that have no composition at all ; but a kind of tuning and rhyming fall in what they write. It runs and slides, and only makes a sound. Women's poets they are called, as you have women's taylors. They write a verse as smooth, as soft as cream* In which there is no torrent, nor scarce stream^ You may sound these wits and find the depth of them with your middle finger. They are cream-bowl, or but puddlf ^eep." r 40 The prevalent affectation or wit is another object of hui aatire. ** I do hear them say often, some men are not wittj, because they are not everywhere witty ; than which nothing can be more foolish Bat now nothing is good that is natural. Right and natural language seems to have the least of wit in it ; that which is written and tortured is counted the more exquisite Nothing is fashionable till it be de- formed, and this is to write like a gentleman. AH must be as affected and preposterous as our gallants' clothes, sweetbags and night dressings ; in which you would think our men lay in like ladies, it is so curious." The aged poet repeats the reproaches familiar to the mas* ters of every art in every age, of the ignorant and erro- neous judgment of the mullitude. **U it were put to the question of the water-rimer's works against Spenser, I doubt not," says he, ** but they would find more suffrages f and he concludes with the complaint that ** Poetry in this latter age bath^ proved but a mean mistress to such as have wholly ad- dicted themselves to her," though '' they who have but salut- ed her on the bye, and now and then rendered their visits, she bath done much for, and advanced in the way of their own Erofessions, both the law and the gospel, beyond all they could ave hoped or done for themselves without her favor." After the death of Shakespeare, no one had appeared to con- test the supremacy of Jonson in the drama, till Massinger printed in 1622 his noble tragedy of the Virgin Martyr : the drama in fact was rapidly declining from its state of un- rivalled prosperity and glory; and Shirley, the immediate successor of Massinger, was destined to close the long and brilliant catalogue of the masters of the earliest school of English dramatists. Among the first and most natural results of the intellectual progress of the age, was an extension of the established plaa of education, as far at least as respected youths of family and fortune exempted by their station from an observance of the routine of professional instruction. In Peacbam's " Com- plete Gentleman," addressed to his pupil Thomas Howard, fourth son of the earl of Arundel, we possess a summary of the acquirements at this time necessary to a man of quality desirous of doing honor to his rank, interesting from the topics of comparison and reflection which it is formed to suggest. This writer treats in some preliminary chapters, on the du- ties of parents to their children respecting education, and pomts out prevailing errors. He stigmatizes the class of 41 fcfaoolmasters as often ignorant and incompetent, and gener- ally chargeable with a high degree of ill-manntrs and even barbarity towards their pupils. Ingenuous youths, he well observes, eannot brook such contempt as to be called by opprobrious names, and ** which is more ungentlemanly, nay barbarous and iohumane, pulled by the ears, lashed over the face, beaten about the bead with the great end of the rod^ smitten upon the lips for every slight offence with the feru- la,-— not offered to their fathers' scullions at home.!' Domes- tic tutors, however, he represents as usually still worse ; ig- norant and mean-spirited persons, engaged by sordid pa- rents at a pitiful salary, and encouraged to expect their re- ward from some family-living to be bestowed as the meed of their servility and false indulgence. Some parents he blames for the vanity or inconsideration which moved them to send to the universities ^* young things of twelve, thirteen, or fourteen, that have no more care than to expect the carrier, and where to sup on Fridays and fast** ing-nights : no further thought of study than to trim up their studies with pictures, and to place the fairest books in open view, which, poor lads, they scarce ever opened, or under- stand not." ^* Other fathers, if they perceive any wildness or unstayedness in their children," hastily despairing of their ** ever proving scholars or fit for any thing else, to mend the matter, send them either to the court to serve as pages, or into France and Italy to see fashions and mend their man- ners, where they become ten times worse." The first branches of study of which he treats are, *^ Style and History," which he joins, seeming to regard a familiarity with correct and elegant writers as the chief advantage to be derived from the perusal of the Latin and English historians, the only ones of whom he makes mention. . Cosmography, or what would now be termed geography and the use' of the globes, he earnestly recommends and shortly treats of ; after which he proceeds to geometry. Under this head he amuses his disciple vsrith an account of several ingenious mechanical toys, ancient and modern, and of a '^ heaven of silver," showing the motions of all the heavenly bodies, sent by the emperor Ferdinand to Soliman the great Turk ; and he endeavours to show the utility of this science to a country gentleman, as connected with a know- ledge of land-surveying, building, draining, and the construc- tion o( mills and water-works ; or, should the bent of his genius prove ndlitary, with fortification. 42 In a chapter on Poetry, he gives bijsf characters of the principal Latin poets, and a hurried list of the English ones from Chauser to Spenser. Whilst exhibiting with some com- placency his own knowledge of Greek, it is remarkable that he never proposes to his pupil the acquisition even of the rudiments of that language ; nor does he recommend to his attention any modern tongue excepting French, though he occasionally quotes Italian. Music he most earnestly recotn- roends, being, as he says, ** verily persuaded" that those who love it not ^* are by nature very ill-disposed, and of such a hrutidh stupidity, that scarce any thing else that is good and savoureth of virtue is to be found in them." On antiquities, under the three heads of statues, inscriptions, and coins, he is pretty full ; nor does he neglect the opportunity of paying a just tribute to the earl of Arundel in the character of a collector. He gives many directions for the practice of *' drawing and limning," of which arts he declares himself an earnest votary ; but a much more elaborate dissertation follows on the practice of blazonry, which in that age was probably considered as the branch of knowledge most pecu- liarly appropriated, and as it were professional, to a gentle- man. A chapter ** On exercises of the body," and another *^ Of observations military," conclude this course of instruc- tion ; the university and foreign travel must then complete the gentletntifL If we compare this summary, not with our present afflu- ence of knowledge, but with the penury and rudeness of the preceding ages, we shall be struck with the rapid increase of useful and ornamental learning which it implies. It is true indeed that some of the most accomplished individuals for a century preceding; as for example, the English sove- reigns, male and female, from Henry YIII. to James I. in- clusive, were most of them better classics than the Gentleman of Peacham ; and all were skilled in theology ; a branch of study totally omitted by this writer ; perhaps in considera- tion of the Roman catholic predilections of the Howard family. But Henry YIII. is said to have been destined to the church, and somewhat of an ecclesiastical education might well be judged fitting for his successors, who were to preside over the national religion ; and few, it is probable, of their ^ nobility eould have emulated them in these scholastic acquire- ' ments. On the other hand, geography, with the elements of astronomy, geometry and mechanics ; the study ofantiqui- ties, comprising mythology and the knowledge of^medals. 43 • _ and the theory and practice of the arts of design, were parts of learning now almost for the first time enumerated amongst the becoming accomplishments of an English gentleman ; and what fruitful sources were here opened of extended util- ity and elegant delight ! Lord Herbert of Cherbury, a considerable name in litera- ture and pbilosophfy in the curious and instructive, though boastful narrative of bis own life, which be left to his poster- ity, has sketched a plan of education varying in many par- ticulars from that of Peacham, and on the whole more ex- tensive, being modelled apparently on his own acquirements. He advises, that after mastering the grammars the pu[Hl should proceed with Greek, in preference to Latin, on ac- count of the excellence of the writers of that language ** in all learning." Geography and the state and manners of nations be would have thoroughly learned, and the use of the celestial globe ; judicial astrology for general predictions only, as having no power to foreshow particular events ; arithme- tic and geometry '^ in some good measure," and rhetoric, and oratory. Of the logic and philosophy of the schools be speaks with the disesteem natui'al to a follower of Bacon, Like that great man also, he seems much addicted to medical empiricism, boasts of some marvellous cures performed by himself, and enjoins on his descendants the study of drugs in pharmacopoeias and antidotaries, and the perusal of the best medical authors from Hippocrates downwards. He speaks of botany as a pursuit highly becoming a gentleman, and beautifully recommends anatomy as a remedy against athe- ism. In moral philosophy and .theology he advises to begin with the Morals of Aristotle, as what all schools and churches may agree in, and warmly enforces the general practice of virtue and repentance for all occasional trans- gressions, as the greatest perfection attainable in this life and the pledge of eternal happiness. On the study of christian divinity he is equally silent with Peacham, but probably from a different cause. Passing from the accomplishments of the mind to those of the body, he enlarges with much complacency on the exer- cises which he had *^ chiefly used," riding the ^reat horse^ and fencing. Those which be does not greatly approre are, " riding of running horses," because there is " much cheat- ing in that kind," and hunting, which takes up too much time. " Dicing and carding " he utterly condemns. Female education, in the higher class, appears to haTe 44 •bared in the extension given to the objects of liberal pursuit. In classical learning indeed the reign of James seams to have supplied no rivals to the daughters of sir Thomas More and sir Anthony Cokt, to Jane Grej, or queen Elizabeth ; but lady Anne Clifford received instructions from Daniel in his- tory, poetry, and general literature ; Lucy Harrington, after- wards countess of Bedford, besides enjoying^ as we have seen, the repute of a medalist and a Latin scholar, was cele- brated by sir William Temple, long after her death, for the singular skill and taste which she had exercised in laying out the gardens of Moor Park : lady Wroth, born a Sidney, was both herself a writer, and distinguished as a patroness of the learned ; a merit shared by other ladies of rank and fortune. Mrs. Hutchinson, whose admirable Memoirs of he^ husband bespeak a mind not less adorned by culture than elevated by principle, informs us that at about the age of seven, she ** had at one time eight tutors in several qualities, languages, music, drawing, writing and needle- work." Sir Matthew Hale, whose sentiments and manners tended towards puritanical strictness, has traced in his ** Advice to his grandchildren," and ^* Counsels of a father," a very diffe- rent plan of instruction and employment for females, which he represents as a return to ancient order from modern extra- vagance, dissipation and idleness ; and it must be recollected that he was writing in the time of Charles H. He would have them to read well, but *^ in the scriptures and good books, not in play-books, romances and love-books." To learn the use of the needle^ but chiefly in useful kinds of works ; others ** more curious" are to be learned, if at all, only to keep them employed and " out of harm's way," " Excessively charge- able" ones ai'e not to be used. To learn and practise as there is occasion all points of good housewifery, as, ** spinning of linen, the ordering of dairies, and to see to the dressing of meal, salting and dressing of meat, brewing and baking, and to understand the common prices of corn, meat, malt, wool, butter, cheese, and all other household provisions ; and to see and know what stores of all things necessary for the house are in readiness, what and when more are to be pro- vided. To have the prices of linen cloths, stuffs apd woollen cloth to cast about to provide ail things at the best hand ; to take and keep accounts of all things ; to know the condition of the ppultry about the house (for it misbecometh no woman to be a hen-wife.) To cast about how to order your clothes with the most frugality; to mend them wh^n 45 they want, and to buy but when it it necetaary, an^ witli ready money ; to io^e to keep at home.'* To compensate this life of household care the sole ** recre- ations of young gentlewomen" which he allows are, " walk- ing abroad in the fields .... some work with their needle, reading of histories or herbals, setting of flowers or herbs, practising their musia" His plan of instruction for sons is the following. Till eight, English reading only. From eight to sixteen the gram- mar school. Latin to be thoroughly learned, Oreek more slightly. From sixteen to seventeen at the university or un- der a tutor, more Latin, but chiefly arithmetic, geometry and geodesy. From seventeen to nineteen or twenty, ^^ logic, na- tural philosophy, and metaphysics, according to the ordinary discipline of the university ;" but after ^'some systems or late topical or philosophical tracts," the pupil to be chiefly exer- cised in Aristotle. Afterwards, should he follow no profes- don, yet to gain some knowledge of divinity, law, and phy- sic, especially anatomy. Also of ^^ husbandry, planting, and ordering of a country farm." He thus recommends a gen- tleman to live upon his land and cultivate it. ** He lives more plentifully, breeds up his children more handsomely and in a way of industry, is better loved in his country^ and doth more good in it than he that hath twice the revenue and lives upon his rents, or it may be in the city." For recreations he advises, reading of history, mathemat- ice, experimental philosophy, nature of trees, plants, or in- sects, mathematical observations, measuring land ; ** nay, the more cleanly exercise of smithery, watchmaking, carpentry, joinery work of all kinds." A marking feature of the sptem of manners at this period was, the extreme disparity in station and fortune between the eldest son and all the other children of a gentleman's family. The uoibrtunate condition of a ^' younger brother" is thus vividly depicted by bishop Earle in his Microcosmography. '^ His father .... tasks him to be a gentleman, and leaves bim nothing to maintain it The pride of his house has un- done him,, which the elder's knighthood must sustain, and bis beggary that knighthood. His birth and bringing up will not si^r bim to descend to the means to get wealth ; but be stands at the mercy of the world and, which is worse, of bis brother. He is something better than the serving-men ; jet thrf mote saucy with bim than he bold with the master, who beholds him with a countenance of stern awe, and checks Vol.. I. 5 46 him oftener than bis Uveriet If bis annuity stretch mo far, he is sent to the university, and with groat heaft-buroing takes up<Hi him the ministry, as a profession he is condkmned to by his ill-fortune. Others take a more crooked path, though the king's highway ; where at length their vizard is plucked o^ and they strike fair for Tyburn ; but their broth* er's pride, not love, gets them a pardon. His last refuge is the Low-countries, where rags and lice are no scandal, where he lives a poor geottemaa of a company, and dies without a shirt. The only thing that may better his fortunes is an art be has to make a gentlewoman, wherewith he baits now and then some rich widow, that is hungry after his blood* He is commonly discontented and desperate, and the form of his exclamation is, That churl mv brother !" A tract published in 1636, called '' The Art of Thriving,'' under the form of a dialogue with a Northamptonshire gen- tleman, furnishes some curious hints of the modes of educate ing and placing out the portionless sons and daughters of good families. In the first place, the young heir, whilst he is stitt ia his father's power, and tractable to his will,^ is to be dispos* ed of in marriage '^ at the highest rate," and the fortune of his wife shared amongst the younger children for their ad- vancement in life. The other sons, according to Iheir abili- ties or inclinations, are to become divines, lawyers^ physictans, *^ sea or land soldiers," courtiers, mechanics or tradesmen, navigators or husbandmen, and particular direeti<ms are added for tbe course to be pursued, and the patronage to be sought in every line, with intimations of the kind of presents, or *^ bribes," to be offered to fit persons on proper occasioBS* A vein of low cunning not Unmixed with humor, runs through the whole. The young divine in search of a benefice is to inquire *^ where the mattins are read with spectacles, or where the good man is lifted up into the pulpit." If he stands lor a dty living, and preaches a probationary sermon, he m to give the leading citizens ^^ the style of right wohshipful, though the best man of the company be but a wine-cooper, and his judgment better in claret than in c&ntioelerum a great deal."- Of the common lawyer he says, that if he be ** suffix eiently able in his profession, he shall want no practice, if &• practice no profit." With allusion no doubt, to the smmy d tlieViliiers family, he adds ; ** The time was that the younger eouosel had soase such help as to be a Aivorite, a kmdved ; to marry a niece, cousin, or chambermaid. But those days be jpast, and better supply tbeinrooms*" Ai c« Phytic,*' he says, '^ with us is a profession ean msintain bttt a f«w ; and divers of those more indebted to opinion than learning, and (for the roost part) better qualified in dis- Goofsing of tibeir travais than in discerning patients' maladies. For it is grown to be a rery huswife's trade, where fortune prevails more than skill." '^ If a land soldier think to thrive and rise, by degrees of service, from a common soldier to a captain in this age, alas, be is omeh deceived." He goes on to recommend the Low- countries as the best school of the art military, and mentions that the sale of commissions is there neither illegal nor *< markaUe." Respecting the daughters, our author says, '^ I would have their breeding like the Dutch woman's cloathing, tending to profit only and comeliness. And though she never have a dancing'Schoolmaster, a French tutor nor a Scotch taylor . . . it makes no matter. For working in curious Italian purples, or French borders, it is not worth the while. Let them learn plain works of all kind Instead of song and music, let them learn cookery and laundry, and instead of reading sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, let them read the grounds of good bttswifery. I like not a femalepoetiesse at any hand. " If the mother of them be a good huswife and religiously disposed, let her have the bringing up of one of them. Place the other two forth betimes The one in the house of some good merchant or citizen of civil and religious govern* mtnt ; the other in the bouse of some lawyer, some judge, or welUreported justice, or gentleman of the country In any of these she may learn what belongs to her improvement, for sempstry, confectionary, and all requisites of huswifery. She shall be sure to be restrained from all rank and unfitting liberty. A merchant's factor, or a citizen's servant of the better sort, cannot disparage your daughters with their so- ciety. And the judges', lawyers', and justices' followers, are not ordinary serving men, but of good breed, and their educa- tions for the most part clerkly ...... Your daughter at home will make a good wife for some yeoman's eldest son, whose father will be ^ad to crown his sweating frugality with alli- ance to such a house of gentry For your daughter at the merchant's and her sister, if they can carry it wittily, the city affords them variety; The young factor being fancy- cau^t in his days of innocence, and before he travel so far into experience as into foreign countries, may lay such a foundation of first love in her bosom as no alteration of cli- 48 mate can alter. So likewise may Thomas, tbe foreman of the shop, .... be entangled and belimed with the like •pringet). . . . With a little patience your [other] daughter may light upon aome counsellor at law, who may be wUling to take tbe young wench, in hope of favor with tbe old judge. An attorney will be glad to give all his profit of a Michaelmas term but to woo her through a crevice. And the parson of the parish, being her lady's chaplain, will forswear eating of the pig for a whole year for such a parcel of gleb land at all tiroes."* The progress of society was fast leaving behind the man* ners and institutions of tbe feudal ages. Ben Jonson in <me of his masques, had poetically represented the .Genius of Chivalay as starting from a lethargic slumber at the name of prince Henry ; but the revival was transient, and he may be said to have closed his eyes for ever on tlie tomb of that la- mented youth. The lance, nearly disused in actual warfare, was couched no longer in the listed field, henceforth tilts and tournaments were seen no more. That it is to a more gene- ral cause than the personal character of king James, whose aversion to war and duelling might be thought likely to ex- tend to the games which were their image, that this cessation is to be ascribed, appears from the fact^of their abolition. near- ly at the same time in France, under that gallant and war- like monarch Henry IV. Marshal Bassompierre, in the jour- nal of his own life, mentions a tilting in the Jists which was held in 1 605 as the only one during this reign. The marshal on that occasion received a challenge to break three lances in tbe open field ; an antiquated species of combat of whbh there had been no exa mple in France for a hundred years. In the trial of skiH which ensued, he was dangerously wounded by the glancing of a spear, and the king would never give his consent to the repetition of ho dangerous a sport ; nor was the practice re- vived by his successor. Though checked by the laudable vigilance of king James and his council, a savage species of duel in which the seconds, often several on a side, were expected to take part with th«r principals, was still frequent. Nor was this the only relicof prim- itive ferocity in the manners of the people. It was still the cus- tom for gentlemen to go constantly armed ; and in what man- ner they often exercised their weapons we may learn from what IS said in Microcosmography of ** a Sergeant or Catch- * Somerset TrwU, vii. 187, tt seq. 4» pole.'* — " The confmoa way to ran frfum bitir is to run /Ao^ tmtgK bim> which is often attempted and achieved, and no mao 18 more beaten out of chaiity. He is one who makes the streets more dangerous than the highways, and men go better provided in their walks than their journey. He b the first handsel of the young rapiers of the Tempters, and they are as proud of his repulse as an hungarian of kilKng a Turk/^ That even ladies bore the *'. household sceptre'* somewhat rudely, may be inferred from the same book ; where it is said of a '* she-precise hypocrite :" *^ She overflows so with the bible that she spills it upon every occasion, and will not eudgel hxr nuUds without scripture*" It was a considerable point gaind, that every thing fierce or boisterous was now banished from the diversions of the court. These chiefly consisted of plays, masques, revels and ballsy followed by splendid banquets. Something of a ro- mantic ilptrit they still retained, a last memory of chivalry, but pomp and luxury Wen^ their principal characteristics. The cruel combats of the cock-pit, prohibited by Elizabeth, were indeed revived and diligently frequented by her succes- sor ; but the ruder, if not more inhuman sports of the bear- garden, appear to have been no longer patronized by tho court, nor oflen witnessed by ladles. Even the cbace, though passionately followed by James himself, and by most of the rural gentry, was no longer an object of paramount or uni- versal interest to the highest class , of society, which now comprised many individuals whose manners were refined and tbeir leisure occupied by literature and the elegant arts*; many also whose attention was largely shared by the pursuits of politics and the pleasures of the town. The gradations of rank, down to the termination of the reign of Elizabeth, had remained fenced about with all the jealous precautions of the ancient feudal aristocracy. The liberal maxim that in the intercourses of society all gentle- men are to be regarded as equals, had not yet obtained cur- rency even in France, where it was first promulgated. In the mansions of the principal English noblemen guests were usuaUy entertained at three different tables, answering to the degrees of lords, knights and gentlemen ; and that it was by no means the general rule for commoners to partake of the same fare with their titled host, may be inferred from the ex- ception recorded by Ben Jonsdn in his " Address to Pens- burst," the seat of the eari of Leicester ; a house long con- secrated to the muses and propitious to their votaries ; 60 ** Where comes no guest bat is allowed to eat Witfaoat his fear, and of thy lord's own meat ; Where the same bread and beer, and sel^ame wiue That is his lordship's shall be also mine. r> We find Sir John Hollis, one of the most wealthy and con- siderable knights in England, and whose heir actually pur- chased under James the title of earl of Clare, refusing to marry his daughter to the earl of Cumberland, because he would not ^' be obliged to stand cap in hand to his son-in- law ;'' and so far was it from being accounted any di&^parage- ment to belong to the household of a person of rank and con- sequence, that Peacham deems it necessary to admonish his pupil, a Howard, not to consider men as ennobled, or made gentle in blood, ^' because they followed some great person." But the whole course of James's conduct hsid tended to dis- turb ancient order, to confound established distinctions, and as it were, to smooth away the steps of honour into an almost imperceptible slope. The lavish hand with which he distributed not only knighthood but peerages in the begin- ning of his reign, and the open manner in which dignities were afterwards set to sale by his courtiers, the creation of the order of baronets, the intermingling of Bcotch peers with English without any formal adjustment of precedency *be- tween them, and lastly, bis practice of conferring Scotch and Irish peerages on Englishmen often of mean birth and small estate, might seem the results of a deliberate plan for lessen- ing the importance of the ancient baronage of England, though they were more probably the uncalculated results of his facile disposition, and the embarrassments of his treasury. In fact, the times were long passed when a king of England could view with reasonable jealousy the power of thi^ greatest amongst his nobles ; a far more real danger to royal author- ity was in the extension of the privileges of peerage to indi- riduals free from the prejudices, or strangers to the maxinui^ of the old bereditary. aristocracy. Osborn observes, that through the introduction of so many new men into the house of lords, it began to participate in all the " humors" of the commons. "The ancient nobility," he adds, "never carri- ed their opposition to kings so high, being in their greatest fury and pride wise enough to remember the plume of stale could not be ruffled without putting in disarray all their smal- ler feathers." From this survey of the commerce, the arts, the luxury. the lUerature, the ecUtcatioa and the manners of the age, we may certainly conelude the general state of the country at the accession of Charles I. to have heen highly prosperous and rapidly improving. To its fecilhy however an important alloy was found in the abuses which bad crept into the adminis- tration of justice and every other department of civil govern- ment, through the rapacity and corruption of men in power, and the arbitrary spirit of the prince, which inclined him to disdain the limits of law and the control of parliament ; an4 also in the oppression to which large bodies of peaeeable sub- jects were exposed through the operation of unjust and cruel laws enacted for the enforcement of religious conformity^ From many s^ns and tokens sagacity might hftv6 predicted, tliat whatever might be tlw personal qualities of the succsesaor of James I.^ it was on conflicts between the maxims of passive obedienee in church and state, and the rising sjnritof civil and religious liberty amongst a moral and enlightened people, that the historic interest of his reign and the crisis of his fate, must turn. 63 CHAPTER III. 1625. Xxpectation of change of measures disappointed. — Buckingham retains his power, — Lord keeper WiUiams disgraced by his tn- jhtenee. — Marriage treaty hastened, — Parliament summoned,"^ Funeral of king James preceded by his ~son*s marriage, — £rm- bossy of JBuckingkam to conduct the bride. — -His splendid ap' pearoMce and intrigue with the JFVench ^ueen. — Letter of Mary de' Medici to her doMghier.-^Meeting of the king and queen.^^ Description and anecdotes of her.-r-Plague in London. — Meet" ' ing of parliament. — Kingh speech demanding supply. ^-—Com* mons though dissatisfied grant two subsidies,rT-King^s ungra- cious carriage. — Pears of popery. — Montague!*s book censured . tft parliament, — King's interferance. — Parliament a^oumed to Oxford. — Ships lent to the king of Prance. — Parliament incensed. — King demands supply. — Buckingham attacked by the commons. — Parliament dissolved. — Accounts of the plague. — Loan imposed. — Cadiz expedition. — Embassy of Bucking* ham to the Hague, — Earl Holland dissuades him from visiting Prance, — Williams deprived of the seals and banished to his eKocese. — King in want of money. — Writs for a new parliament. THE parentage and birth-place of king James, bis personal qualities, and the general course of his policy foreign and domestic, had all conspired to render his rule generally and profoundly distasteful to the English nation ; and any ap- pearances of cordiality with which the accession of a second Stuart might be hailed, seem to bare been principally attrib- utable to the hope of some important change of men and measures under a new reign. Buckingham had already forfeited bis short-Iired popularity. His supposed merit in the breach of one catholic marriage being cancelled by the zeal whiph he had evinced in nego- tiating another, and his eagerness for the declaration of a war with Sp»n being neutralized by the slackness with which be had suffered it to be carried on, the odium formerly edited by his arrogance, his arbitrary conduct, and his monopoly of of power, places, and honors had returned with redoubled vehemence; and it had become the general wish that the downfall of this imperious favorite might supply an ome&fo coming reign. But the first steps of the new sovereign were formed to disappoint this hope. In his progress from Theobalds to London, on the day after his father's decease, Charles was accompanied in his carriage by the duke, and by Dr. Preston, the chaplain whom he had lately given him; and at his first privy council no change of the slightest political importance was made in the members of the board. Bishop Williams, the sole great ofilcer of state whom the personal favor of king James had sustained against the declared hostility of Buckingham, re- ceived the empty or sarcastic compliment of a command to preach that monarch's funeral sermon ; but he was called no more to the council ; on the third day of the reign he was menaced in the king's presence with ah impeachment, and he was soon after informed that the duke loudly threatened to deprive him of the office of lord keeper ; — ^a striking proof of the confidence of this minister in the augmentation of bm own authority by the change of masters. The treaty for the royal marriage proceeded without the slightest pause ; letters on this business being dispatched on the very morning after king James's death ; and it was soon understood that the war with Spain was now to be prosecuted with fresh vigor. 60 impatient indeed was Charles to obtain the requisite supplies, that he proposed to reassemble the old parliament ; but being informed by the lord keeper that the legal existence of this body ceased with the life of the sove- reig'n by whose authority it was convoked, he contented him- self with commanding writs to be issued for a new election at the shortest possible notice. This measure likewise was condemned for its precipitation by Williams, who, much bet- ter acquainted th|in his master with the state of public opin- ion, earnestly recommended that ^^the usual means'* should previously be taken for making the elections fall on person^ acceptable to the court. But the adviser being suspected, hfa suggestions were of course disregarded, and the young king and his rash minister were letlt to Ifearn too late how fat it exceeded their power and skill to direct the votes of an in- dependent and purely-chosen house of commons.* King James's body was conveyed from Theobalds to Som- erset House, where it was still lying in state when, on May 1st, the nuptials of his son and successor were celebrated at * Hacket'i Life of WUliimSi part ii. p. 5. Vol. 1. 6 54 Pari$.. The funeral was performed on the 7th of the eaine month, the royal hridegroom sustaining the part of chief mourner ; and it was merely an intrigue of the papal nuncio^ who sought to detain Henrietta at Amiens till she should have performed a solemn act of penance for consenting to marry at. heretic prince without a dispensation from Rome, which post- . poned till June 1 2 the landing of the bride, and the conse- quent puUic rejoicings. The duke of Buckingham was sent ambassador extraordi- nary to Paris, for the purpose of witnessing the marriage and conducting the queen to England. He declined the honor rof officiating as his master's proxy, probably on account of some unsettled punctilio, and that office devolved in conse- quence on the duke of Chevreuse, a prince of the bouse of Loraine, distantly related to the royal family of Scotland through Mary of Guise ; but ail the display was made by the English favorite, who exhibited on the occasion a pomp and magnificence which could not easily have been exceeded by the king in person ; in fact it was believed by the French that the very crown jewels were lent him for bis own wearing.* We are likewise informed, that of twenty-seven suits prepared for his use, the richest, — one of white velvet set all over with diamonds, — was valued at 80,000Z. exclusive of a feather of great diamonds, and a hatband, sword, girdle, and spurs set with the same. He bad three coaches lined with velvet, covered .with gold lace, and drawn by eight horses each^ and his train is said to have amounted to six or seven hundred persons, .many of theni distinguished by rank and family, and all gor- geous with gold, gems, velvet, silks, and embroidery. This blaze of magnificence which assorted well with the distin- guished beauty of his countenance, the symmetry of his com- manding person, and the haughty graces of his manner and deportment, called forth enthusiastic plaudits at the court of Prance, and raised to such a height the presumption of this spoiled child of nature and fortune, that disdaining all meaner conquests, he aspired, with a strange openness, to the fevors of Anne of Austria herself, queen consort of France. This princess, then in the bloom of youth and beauty, and deeply imbued with the romantic gallantry of her native eourt of Spain, neglected by her melancholy husband and insignificant at his court, was by no means displeased to wit- ness the effect of her charms on the brilliant stranger. She, ♦ MoUevill*, Jiim, rf» Jinn$ d'jtutrich^ I 55 us well as the queens mother, thought proper to accompany the rojal bride as far as Amiens, and the facilities of inter*' course afibrded by the journey .were sedulously improved by Buckingham. On one occasion he joined her as she was walking in the garden of the house where she was lodged ; and her attendants, who were much in his interests, retiring out of sight, the freedom of his behaviour became so extreme, that the queen's cries of alarm quickly compelled them to return for her protection. Even after thfi scandalous scene, which caused the speedy dismissal of several of the queen's household, she permitted him to take a tender farewell of her as she sat in her carriage with the princess of Conti, who afterwards confessed that the looks of the queen testified at least compassion for the despair which he exhibited. Hurried away by the violence of his passion, or, more pro- bably, by the headlong will which governed him, Bucking- ham afterwards swore that he would see and speak with that ladyitgain in spite of all the power of France ; and regard- less of the threats of assassination thrown out against him by the courtiers of Louis XI I L, he actually quitted upon the road the queen of England, whom it was his duty to attend; returned post-haste to Paris, on some pretext of a secret ne- gotiation, hastened to the chamber of Anne, who had been prepared to expect his visit, threw himself on his knees by her bedside, and acted a scene of frantic passion which ended in his being pushed out of the room by the lady in waiting*.* This extraordinary intrigue appears to have exerted a pow- erful influence over the public relations of the two countries, and it seems almost . equally difficult to conceive that Charles could have been kept in ignorance of the intolerable conduct of the duke, or that, knowing it, he could have failed to visit it with exemplary marks of his royal displeasure. . At Amiens, where Mary de' Medici took leave of her daughter Henrietta, she presented her with a letter in her own name and hand-writing, but of which Richelieu was the real author. This document has fortunately been preserved to the present time, and it is on various accounts so curkjus and important that an abstract of Its contents may here claim a place. After some general exhortations to piety and devotion, and customary phrases on the nothingness of this world compared * See for all these particulart the " Jtf Aiio«r«i'» of Madame de Mottetille, bjwhom theatoryianodoabttoUlm the rooet lenient manner for the repu- tation of her royal mistress. M with eternitj, the princess is enjoined to recollect diat she is a daughter of the church, and that this is the most exalted ti- tle she can ever bear; and to pray constantly that the pre- cious gifts of faith and grace may be preserved to|her, and that 4Bhe may rather lose her life than fall from them. She is re^ minded of the devotion of her ancestor St. Louis, and exhort- ed to be, like him, firm and zealous in her religion, and never to listen to anything, or suffer anything to be said in her pre- sence contrary to IHr faith. " We have the promise," it is add- led, ** of the late king of Great Britain and the king his son, that such things shall not be said ; but, on your part, you must show BO firm a resolution, and such severity on this point, that any one making such an attempt may perceive at once that you cannot endure such license ; your zeal and courage will be pro- perly exerted on this matter ; and with the knowledge you pos- sess of every thing necessary to your salvation, your humility will be approved if you shut your ears against all discourse on religion, leaving the church to speak for you." To confirm h^r faith, she is recommended to open her mind to those who ^^ve the care of her conscience, to frequent the sacraments^ and to communicate on the first Sunday of every month, and at all the feasts of Jesus Christ and of his holy mother, to whom, as being named after her, she is exhorted to pay a pe* cuiiar devotion. The next duties enjoined upon her respect, the catholic sub- jects of her husband, whom she is so to patronize with him that they may not relapse into the misery whence her mar- riage had rescued them : she is to be to them another Es- ther, who had the grace from God to be the defence and deliverance of her people by her intercession with Ahasuerus* ^* Through them," she is told, "God will bless you even in this world ; all that you do for them he will account as done uato himself. Forget them not, my daughter, God has sent you into that country for them, for they are' bis people, who have suffered many years ; welcome them with affection, lis- ten to them with willingness, protect them with assiduity ; it is your duty ; they are worthy of regard not only on account of the afflictions they have endured; but still more for the sake of the religion in the cause of which thev have suffer- ed." In treating of her duties to her husband, she is told, that •he ought to love his soul and to seek his salvation, and dai- ly to pray, and to cause special prayer to be made, that God would draw him to the true religion, in which, and even for 67 which, hia grandmother diei "She has this wish for her grandchild in heaven, and it ought to be your ardent desire on earth ; it is one of the designs which God has respecting you ; he will make you the Bertha of our days; she, like you a daughter of France, like you a queen of England, ob- tained by her holy life and her prayers the gift of faith for her husband and for the city which you are about to enter." This holy desire, it is suggested, ought to be a motive with her to put a force upon h(;r own humour and submit herself to the will a»d inclinations of the king in every thing except religion, in which she is again exhorted to firmness and per- severanjce, on pain of her mother's malediction. In the conclusion of the letter, it is said to be one of the chief interests of France and England to be inseparably unit- ed, and that the queen should make herself the bond be- tween them. She is then enjoined to use with great discretion " the licence which the English manner of living allows to ladies," and sound rules are givf n for her conduct towards her household, and her own deportment and behaviour; but to these common-places of moral ins^ti notion, inserted by her crafty counsellors merely as matters of custom and decorum, it was probably not expected that she should pay very seri- ous attention. The real purport of the letter, to prompt her to make herself the head of a formidable faction within her husband's kingdom, was much more consonant to the temper and inclinations of Henrietta, as well as to the secret views of the French cabinet, and of this fatal suggestion she seem3 never to have lost sight.* . the king met his bride at Dover on June 13, and pro- ceeded with her to Canterbury, and thence on the following day to Gravesend, where the royal barge was in attendance to convey them to the palace of Whitehall. Henrietta was at this time little more than fifteen years of age, and the smallness of her stature made her appear still younger. Her shape was some what awry, and fier features were not regular ; a pair of bright black eyes and a sprightly and agreeable countenance formed therefore her chief pretensions to beauty, as a lively style of talking was her principal claim to the reputation of talent. She had received no solid in- f This letter, now first presented to the English reader,iias b«en published ftmonsr^t the " Eclaircissements et Pieces Hist^riquee" appended to the great Seneral collection of freneh Memoiretf where it is given on the aothority of a IS. collection of the 17th century • bat a copy of it has also been found in the Freneh State Paper Office in the hand- writing of cardinal Richelieu. 58 Struction, and was almost totally illiterate. On ber first intro- duction to the king, she kneeled and kissed his hand, saying, as he raised and cordially embraced her, that she was come into his kingdom to be at bis service and command. After- wards, gracefully remarking that her youth and ignorance o{ the country might easily lead her into errors, which however she would constantly be willing to correct, she begged as a favor that he would engage always to let her hear of her faults from himself. He gave her a promise to this effect, and observed it with more exactness than she in truth desired ; for beneath this act of diffidence and humility, which she had probably been instructed to assume in the commencement, Henrietta concealed great haughtiness, an impetuous will, and a turn for intrigue which it was the business of her French attendants to improve to the utmost. At the first meal to which the royal pair sat down together, the queen's confessor, taking his station beside her chair, warned her not to partake of the venison and pheasant canr- ed to her by her husband, because "it was the eve of St. John Baptist, and was to be fasted, and that she should take heed how she gave ill example, or a scandal, at her first arrive- al.*' .Nevertheless, " she cat heartily of both,*** to the great consQlation of the protestant bystanders, who on this siigh, foundation flattered themselves with hopes of her speedy conversion. Preparations had been made in the city of London to cel- ebrate the expected entry of the king and queen with the ac- customed pomps and pageants ; but all thoughts of this cere- mony and all tokens of public rejoicing were broken off by the appearance of the plague ; a vijitation regarded by the people as a manifestation of the wrath of heaven against a popish marriage, and the certain omeq of a disastrous r^ign. • But no omen was required by men of sagacity when once they had witnessed the positions respectively taken by the king and the house of commons on the meeting of parliament. This assembly was opened by the king in person on June 18. It was well noted that he wore the crown on his head, contrary to the custom of English kings previously to their coronation, a solemnity regarded by all who understood the constitution of their country as the election, rather than the mere recognition, of a sovereign. This innovation was pro- bably adopted by Charles as an assertion of the right divine * Eiris*8 Letters, iii. 198. 69 to which, after the example of his father, he thought proper to lay claim. His speech, in marked contrast to the long^, rambling, quaint orations of king James, was brief, plain, and somewhat peremptory. He observed indeed, with reference to the defect of his utterance, that he was ** not made for much speaking." Incorrectly identifying the present parlia- ment with the last, he desired to remind them that he was engaged in a war undertaken by their advice, expressed a con- fidence of their support, and required them to expedite the supplies of which he stood in need preferably to all other matters, partly on account of the urgency of his affairs, part- ly because the progress of the pestilence rendered their con- tinuance together dangerous to themselves : He concluded by protesting his attachment to the religion he professed, which certain ill-disposed persons had called in question. The commons, conscious of their own strength, and deter- mined to employ it for the protection of the people against the progressive encroachments of royal authority on the ancient constitution of the country, were little disposed to proceed in the business of supply with the expedition which the king prescribed. Some members thought it reasonable first to ex- pect the redress of grievances complained of but not remedied under the former reign ; others desired an account of the employment of the last subsidy, granted for the recovery of the Palatinate ; others were anxious for the enforcement of the laws against popery, which had lately been illegally suspend- ed by the king's authority ; whilst others again pressed for the repeal of a duty on wines imposed by the late king with.out consent of parliament. But through a natural and becoming desire in the majority to conciliate the affections of a new sove- reign, these motions were all for the present overruled, and the house passed a vote for two subsidies, " as the first fruits of their love to their prince." The king in return gave a complying atiswer to their petition against the catholics, and for the manner of their supply he returned them thanks, but let them know that in amount it fell far short both of his wants and expectations ; he also took upon him to express surprise that they should entertain so much as a thought of in** terfering with the levy of the duties on wines, since the amount had been bestowed in the relief of the Palatine and his family, " The most that aggrieved the council of parliament," ob- serves an acute contemporary) " was that the king's couces* 810118 for the good of the people came not off cheerfully i he 60 wanted a way indeed to give a gift, and to make it thank- worthy in the manner of bestowing."* In these early transactions we plainly discern the gentis of civil contest, nor were the seeds of religious dissension more tardy in disclosing themselves. The king*8 marriage with a Roman-catholic princess, and the large establishment of eccle- siastics, including monks and a bishop, which she had been allowed to bring with her ; — ^the evident predilection of Buck- ingham for the same chruch, of which both his mother and his wife were ackncnvledged members ; — the late interference exerted for the suspension of the penal laws against priests and recusants ; — slights of various kinds put upon the reform- ed churches abroad, and the hostility which Charles appeared to inherit from his father against the calvinistic or puritanical party in his own kingdoms, had all concurred to excite in the English parliament and people violent suspicions of an in- tended toleration of catholic worship, or perhaps even of a meditated reunion between the Anglican and Romish churches. Neither the declaration of his attachment to the protestant faith with which Charles had concluded his first address to the leg^islature, nor yet his favorable answer to its petition against the growth of popery, had greatly conduced to the quieting of these misgivings, because his actions were plainly at vari- ance with his professions or promises, and an incident which now occurred was well adapted to add strength to all the former jealousies. Towards the close of the former reign, Richard Montague, a court divine, had written a book entitled, according to the quaint fashion of the times, " A new gag for an old goose," which, though a professed answer to a Roman-catholic book called, " A gag for the new Gospel," leaned so much to the tenets of that church, that the house of commons then sitting summoned the author to their bar, but afterwards turn- ed him over to the authority of archbishop Abbot, who. pro- hibited him from writing more on these topics, and so disitiiss- ed him. Montague however, encouraged by Laud, ventured to compose a defence of his book, which he calfed " Appello Caesarem,'' and had designed to, present to king James, but on his decease inscribed to his successor. It was approved by several bishops, licensed without scruple by a Dr. Francis White, and published. In this piece, the Romish was assert- ed to be a true church, resting on the same authority and ♦ Hacket's Life qf WOUms, part ii. p. 9. 61 % foundations as tbe English, and not differing from it in funda- mentals, but only in some points of lesser importance ; the use of images was defended ; the saints were affirmed to have knowledge and memory of human things, and to exer- cise a peculiar patronage over certain places and persons ; the real presence was maintained ; ordination was numbered among the sacraments ; and confession and absolution, and the use of the sign of the cross, were approved. On the other hand, there was much bitterness against the puritans ; lecturing and preaching were descried, and even the reading of the scriptures was alluded to with a sneer. The writer had also paid homage to the despotic propensities of the king, by claiming for him a prerogative founded on right divine and paramount to the laws of the land. The commons, greatly alarmed at the promulgation of such doctrine, so patronized, appointed a committee to examine the book, and on receiving its report, bound Montague in a recognisance of 20001. to answer such articles of accusation as should be brought against him. This proceeding roused the activity of Laud, who, anxious at once for the diffusion of his own doctrines in religion and government, and jealous and disdainful to the last degree of all authority exerted by the rep- resentatives of the people over ecclesiastical persons or causes, prevailed on two other prelates to join with him in addressing a vehement letter to the duke of Buckingham, in which they actually went so far as to declare that it was impossible to conceive how any civil government could be supported, if the contrary of Montague's doctrines should be maintained, and urged him to engage the king to reclaim to himself the judgment of the cause, as a branch of his pre- rogative. The suggestion was but too welcome to the mind of Charles, and he lost no time in intimating to the house of commons his displeasure at their alarming the nation with fears of popery, and especially at their commencing proceed- ings against a chaplain of his, without his special license pre- viously obtained ; adding, that he would himself call Mon- tague before the council, and sentence him according to his deserts. By this interference the polemic was rescued for a time from parliamentary animadversion, but with such a dim- inution of the confidence and attachment of the house of commons^ as a prudent prince would have hesitated or refus- ed to incur, even in a much clearer case, and one of greater consequence. The alarming progress of the plague in London now Vol. I. 7 03 prompted tbe two houses to petitioB the king for a short re- cess, which he granted ; but in the hope of inducing them to enlarge jtheir vote of supply, he reassembled them at Oxford about the beginning of August. Unfortunately for this de- sign, circumstances in the mean time transpired which seem- ed to justify the darkest suspicions entertained of the court, and which confirmed the commons in requiring a change of men and measures before they would intrust the king with the application of larger grants of the public money. King James, in the last year of his reign, had consented to accommodate his ally Louis XIII, with the loan of a srhip of war called the Vanguard and seven armed merchantmen to be employed against Genoa ; but afterwards suspecting that it was designed to use them in the blockade of the hugonot fortress of Rochelle, he had given directions that the crews should be chiefly composed of English, in order to keep the power over them still in his own hands. After the accession of Charles, these ships, by a secret understanding with the French ambassador entered into by the king and Bucking- ham, and carefully concealed from the rest of tbe council, were sent to Dieppe under a contract to fight for the king of France against any nation but their own ; Buckingham at the same time having artfully raised a false report of an ac- commodation between the hugonots and their sovereign. Pennington, the admiral, protested against this contract fts surreptitiously obtained, and the commanders of the mer- chantmen, resolute not to be thus trepanned into an odious service, held off, and suffered their commander to enter the port of Dieppe alone. Here the French ambassador pro- duced to him letters from the duke and an order by secretary Conway in the king's name, for the delivery of the ships into the power of the French ; but Pennington, not conceiving himself obliged, or even authorized, to dismiss bis officers and give up the vessels nearly unmanned, as the ambassador re- quired, refused to comply without express orders from home. The ambassador, on this, entered a protest against him as a traitor to his king and country, and by his menacing language so enraged the soldiers and sailors of the Vanguard, that they broke into tumult, and weighing anchor set sail for England, declaring that they would rather be hanged at home than surrender the ship, or be slaves to the French and fight against their own religion. The captains and crews of the merchantmen made the same declaration, and they all re- turned to the (Downs, whence Pennington wrote to the duke. 63 complaining of the terms of the contract, announcing th* resolution of his squadron, and desiring further directions. Meantime, deputies had arrived from the duke of Rohan and the French protestants, deprecating the employment of Eng- lish ships for their destruction ; and fair answers were return- ed them not only by the body of the council, but even by the king himself, who nevertheless dispatched an express to Pennington commanding him to surrender the Vanguard to the French, and to compel the other vessels, " even to sink- ing," to follow the example. The admiral obeji^d ; he fired after the merchantmen as they attempted to make their es- cape, and succeeded in delivering the whole squadron into th« hands of the French, excepting one ship, with which sir Ferdinando Gorges broke through and came home. But the crews, with the exception of a single gunner, unanimously refused the service and quitted their vessels, and Pennington on landing " hasted" to Oxford, " but, as was voiced, was there concealed till the parliament was dissolved."* In spite of this precaution, accounts of the transaction quickly reached the house of commons, and exceedingly ex- asperated the general indignation against Buckingham. The consideration of grievances was resumed ; a committee was appointed for secret atfairs, and to inquire into the application of the last supplies granted to king James ; Montague was called up for further examination ; heavy complaints were made against the duke as lord-admiral for his neglect to guard the narrow seas, through which the Turkish corsairs had been enabled to land and carry off captives from the Western coasts, and articles of accusation against him were put in preparation. The king, on the other hand, pressed the house for further supplies, and caused estimates of his debts and of the' sums required for the rpaintenance of the navy, and for general purposes, to be laid before them. But all his efforts were unavailing; in the debates which ensued it was alleged, " that the public money was ill-employed, and the king ill- advised ; our necessities arose from improvidence : that although a former parliament had engaged the king in the war, yet, if things were managed by contrary designs, the present parliament was not bound by their act, nor to be carried blindfold into acts not guided by sound counsels ; they had more reason to petition the king for a stout hand and ♦ Rushworth, vol. i. p. ISO. 64 sounder couiuels to manage his affairs ; and that it was not usual to grant subsidies upon subsidies, and no grievances redressed." Several particular instances of misgovernment were likewise brought forward as worthy to be represented to the king, among which neither the ** manifold miscarriages of the duke, the sale of places for enormous sums, the ships lent against Rochelle, nor the terms of the French marriage* treaty were forgotten." In a conference with the lords, the commons desired their concurrence in further representhig to the king, th|t notwithstanding such an answer from him as had assurea them of the execution of the penal laws, the royal pardon had been granted on the very next day to a Jesuit and ten other papists, at the intercession of some foreign ambassador. It was also observed, that this pardon was passed by immediate warrant, without payment of fees, and signed by the principal secretary of state ; and that by it several statutes provided to keep the subject in due obedience were dispensed with. By way of blunting the force of these animadversions, Charles now summoned the two housea to receive a fuller and more explicit assent than he had yet g^ven to the petition re- garding religion, and the duke, by bis command, made them a report of the state of the fleet, and gave an explanation of such parts of bis own conduct as had been most called in ques- tion. These condescensions made some impression, and se- veral members urged the grant of a further supply, on ac- count of the necessity of the king's affairs. But it was an- swered, that necessity is a bad counsellor, and a continual ar- gument for supplies in all parliaments ; '^ that those coun- sellors who have put the king and kingdom into such a neces- sity and hazard ought to answer for it, whosoever they be ; that if the state of things will not admit a redress of grievances, surely there is not so much necessity for money ; — mean- ing probably, that if the king hesitated to deserve a grant by redress of grievances, his want of money ought not to be con- sidered as urgent. It was mentioned also, that in the reign of Henry III. there was one punished for pressing of more sub- sidies when subsidies had been granted before in that parlia- ment.* Convinced at length that it was vain to expect from this house of commons any further supplies without the re- dress of grievances whieh he was resolute not to redress ; urg- ed also by Buckingham, who was both irritated at the reflec- '*' Rashworth. 66 tions thrown out against bim, and alarmed by tbe preparations made for his impeachment, Charles abruptly dissolved the parliament by commission on August 12. An angry and ill- conaidered act, by which he certainly preparedthe misfortunes of his whole succeeding reign ! In the meantime, the augmenting ravages of the plague bad gone on diffusing a general consternation, height- ened by the superstitious ideas which thg;i infested the minds of men. It was remarked, that this visitation was severer even than that which had ushered in the reign of James, which was more fatal than any former one ; whence it was argued that the rule of the present king would prove cala'roitous beyond all precedent ; and many persons beheld in it a mark of tbe displeasure of heaven against the ^gyp* tia comjux, the ^* papist and idolater" so lately made the consort of the chief of protestant princes. All persons who were able, fled from London, the centre of contagion, and communication was as much as possible cut off between it and tbe provinces. The pestilence diffused itself notwith- standing ; the king was deterred from approaching Windsor by the appearance of the disease on a yeoman of the guard, and the parliament had sat in terror even at Oxford. A striking picture of the desolation of the city is thus drawn by tbe hand of a contemporary. ** The plague still raged in London, so that in one week there died 5000 persons ; it was also spread in many places in the country. In some families, both master and mistress, children and servantis were all swept away. For fear of infection, many persons who vere to pay money did first put it into a tub of water, and then it was taken out by the party that was to receive it. When the plague was somewhat assuaged, and there died in London but 2500 in a week, it fell to judge Wbitlocke's turn to go to Westminster hall, to adjourn Michaelmas term from dience to Reading ; and accordingly he went from his house in Buckinghamshire to Horton near Colnbrook, and the next morning early to Hyde Park corner, where he and his reti- nue dined on the ground, with such meat and drink as they brought in the coach with them, and afterwards he drove fast through the streets, which were empty of people and overgrown with grass, to Westminster hall ; where the offi- cers were ready, and the judge and his company went straight 66 / J totheXing's bench, adjourned the court, returned to hiid coach and drove away presently out of town.'** The noted John Lilly, the astrologer, was at this time con- fidential servant, or clerk to a gentleman who, flying him- self from London, left him in charge of his house and effects ; and he thus describes the mode in which he and others pas- sed away that interval of melancholy vacation. " My mas- ter was no sooner gone down but I bought a base viol, and got a roaster to instruct me ; the intervals of time I spent in bowling in Lincolns-Inn Fields with Wat the cobler, Dick the blacksmith, and such like companions. We have some- times been at our work at six in the morning, and so contin- ued till three or four in the afternoons, many times wittiout bread or drink all that while. Sometimes I went to church and heard funeral sermons, of which there were then great plenty. At other times I went early to St. Antholin's in London, where there was every morning a sermon. The most able people of the city and suburbs were out of town ; if any remained, it was such as were engaged by parish of- fices to remain ; no habit of a gentleman or woman continu- ed ; the woful calamity of that year was grievous, people dy- ing in the open fields and in the open streets. At last, in Au- gust, the bills of mortality had so increased, that very few people had thoughts of surviving the contagion. "f He goes on to mention, that '*the Sunday before the great bill came forth, which was of 5000 and odd hun- dreds," there was a sacrament appointed at St. Clement Danes, at which the communicants were so numerous that three ministers were employed in the distribution, two of whom were taken ill of the plague before the conclusion of the service, and one died. To the imprudence of thus congregating the people at such a time, the in- creased mortality which ensued is probably to be attributed. Lilly elsewhere estimates the deaths in London during ^this pestilence at more than 50,000, and adds, "I do well remember this accident, that going in July 1625, about half an hour after six in the morning, to St. Antholin's church,:!: I met only three persons in the way, and no more, from my house over against Strand bridge till I came there ; so few people were then alive, and the streets so unfrequented."§ ♦ WhiUocke's MenwrialSf p. 2. t Lilly'i Life and Times, p. 17. J In Watlinjr Strett. § Lilly»s Observiaums on the life and death of K. Charles, f 67 In consequence of the abrupt dissolution of paHiament, -the vote of supply had not passed into an act, and the subsidies therefore could not legally be levied. This circum* stance, in the previously embarrassed state of his affairs, ought perhaps to have sufficed to -induce the king to forgo the prosecution of a war entered upon rashly, and with little prospect of any advantageous results : but pertinacity was one of the chief characteristics of Charles's mind ; the natural presumption of youth combined with the exalted notions of the kingly office in which he had been educat- ed, to flatter him that his will must constantly triumph over all that opposed it, and he formed the contrary determina- tion of pursuing his military designs with redoubled ardor. It thus becamie necessary for him to hazard the illegal, and therefore perilous step, of raising upon his subjects by way of loan a sum equal to the two subsidies. The people, not ripe as yet for direct resistance to royal authority, complied in general with the requisition, though reluctantly; and. strengthened by this supply he speedily equipped an armament, consisting of 80 ships and 10,000 men, destined to make a descent on the coast of Spain, and intercept the homeward-bound galleons. It was expected that the duke, as lord high admiral, would have taken the command in person ; but he projected for himself a more welcome employ, and the appointment was conferred on Thomas Cecil viscount Wimbledon, an officer of slender reputation, to whom the earl of Essex was joined as second in command. Failure in every way disgraceful, was the result of this attempt. The want of any preconcerted plan rendered it necessary to call a council of war off Cape St. Vincent, and before the jarring opinions of the commanders could be reconciled, the Spaniards were prepared against. the attack. A landing was however effected near Cadiz and a fort taken ; but a store of wine falling into the hands of the captors, the ill-disciplined soldiery indulged in such excesses as rendered it impossible to proceed, and a work of difficulty and danger even to reembark. The capture of the Plate fleet might still have compensated the failure on land, and richly repaid the eost of the expedition ; but a pestilential disease having broken out on board one or two of the ships, it was speedily communicated to the rest by the strange imprudence of the commander in causing the sick to be distributed over the 68 healthj ships ; and under these circumstances he judged it expedient to sail for England without even awaiting the arri- val of the galleons. It was whilst the lord-admiral was superintending the em* barkation of .the troops for this expedition that he was sum- moned back to court by an urgent letter from the king, re- minding him that his journey to the queen his sister, and to France, daily required more haste ; for that though the king of Denmark had lately had good success against the imperi- alists, he needed present encouragement, and Mansfek without instant help would dissolve to nothing.* Bucking- ham, who required no urging, set out immediately on his di- tdomatic mission, and concluded at the Hague, then the asy- um of the queen of Bohemia and her children, a league for the recovery of the Palatinate, in which several of the North- ern powers took part. To this alliance, it was agreed that the king of England should invite his brother of France to accede, and that he should likewise intercede with him to grant terms of favor to the hugonots ; and Buckingham flat- tered himself that under color of negotiating these affaijrs, he might be enabled to fulfil his promise, or menace, of revisiting the lady of his affections. But his calculations deceived him. Richelieu had a double motive for excluding him ; the line of policy which he was commissioned to recommend to the cab- inet of France was opposed to that which this great minister bad determined to pursue, while the suit of gallantry whidi he sought occasion to urge, was deeply offensive to the pre- sumptuous and slighted passion which the cardinal, in des- pite of his age and profession, was yet believed to cherish. The result was, that the earl of Holland, the more devoted adherent of Buckingham, and the confident of his amour, after carefully sounding the dispositions of the French court, found himself obliged to address to his patron the unwelcome inti- mation conveyed in the following remarkable letter. ** My dearest lord, " All the joy I have, hath such a flatness set upon it by your absence from hence, as, I protest to God, I cannot rel- ish it as I ought ; for though beauty and love 1 find in all perfection and fulness, yet I vex and languish to find imped- iment in our designs and services for you : first| in the busi- * MUeelUmeem StMte Papers, vqX, ii. p. 13. 60 ReM, for I find our meditation mutt hnvt no pluee with thif kin^ eoncerniDg a peace. We must only ute our power o?6r those of the religion to bumble them to reasonable eonditions, and that done, they would, as far as I can guess, have us gone, not being willing that we should be so much as in the kingdom when peace is made, for fear the protestants may imagine we have bad a hsnd in it. For our confederation, made by you at the Hague, they speak so of it as they will do somethiDg in it, but not so really or friendly as we could wish. But for these things you allow me, I trust, to refer you to the general dispatch. ^' I now come to other particulars ; I have been a eareful spy to observe intentions and affections towards you. I find many things to be feared, and none to be assured^ of a safe and real welcome. For the [kiug] continues in his susp^cts^ making (as they say) very often discourses of it ; and is wil- ling to hear Villanis say that [the queen] hath infinite affeo* tions, you imagine which way. They say there is whisper- ed among the foolish young bravadoes of the court, that be is not a good Frenchman who suffers fyou] to return out of France, considering the reports that are raised. Many such briuis fly up and down. I have, since my coming, given tbo queen-mother, by way of discourse, occasion to say some- what concerning your coming ; as the other night, when sh# complained to me that things were carried harshly in Eng- land towards France ; I then said, that the greatest unkind* ness and harshness came from hence, even to forbid your coming hither, a thing so strange and so unjust, as our master had cause, and was, infinitely sensible of it. She fell into discourse of you, desiring you would respect and love her daughter ; and likewise that she had, and ever would, coai- roand her to respect you above all men, and follow your counsels, (the matter of her religion excepted,) with many professions of value and respect unto your person; hot would never either excuse what I complained of, or tnrHe you to come upon that occasion. But though neither the business gives cause to persuade your coming, nor my reeaon, for the matter of your safety ; yet know, you are the most happy unhappy man alive, for [the queen] is beyond ima||^- nation right,, and would do things to destroy her fortune, rath^ er than want satisfaction in her mind. I dere not ^leak^aa I would ; I have ventured I fear too muidi eonmdering what practices accompany the malice of the people here; I tremble to think whether Hiis^ #iH find a safe conveyance un. Vol. I. S" N 70 to you. Do what you will, I dare not adirise jou ; to eome im dangerous, not to come is unfortunate.''* Bo warned, the Duke decided to postpone his visit, and re-' turned to England disappointed and indignant, but not as yet disposed to resign as unattainable the object of his audacious and criminal pursuit. At home he found the aspect of his affairs scarcely less disquieting ; for though planted on the pinnacle of royal favor, tKe tide of popular indignation threat- ened every moment to sweep him from his station. That bold, crafty, and persevering struggle for place and influence, bishop and lord keeper Williams, had continued, notwithstand- ing the menaced dismissal, to profess a willingness to serve the duke, and through him his sovereign, by promoting a bel- ter understanding between the court and the house of com- mons. To this end he had advised that parliament, instead of being reassembled at Oxford after its adjournment to con- clude the session, should be at once prorogued, and not sum- moned again till Christmas ; when in a new session the king might without irregularity demand a fresh supply. In the meantime he engaged by " undertaking with the chief stick- lers," to take off their malice against the duke. This advice had been disregarded ;> the meeting at Oxford had proved to the full as unpropitious to the duke and to the policy of his master as Williams had anticipated ; and hoping that expe- rience might now give weight to his suggestions, he presented himself to Buckingham unsent for, and in a manner forced up- on him this sound, but unpalatable counsel. " Wind up a session quickly : the occasion is for you, because two colleges in the university and eight houses in the city are visited with the plague. Let the members be promised fair and friendly that they shall meet again after Christmas. Requite their mjuries done unto you with benefits and not revenge. Per no man that is wise will show himself angry with the people of England Confer one or two of your greatest places upon your fastest friends : so shall you go less in envy and not less in power. Great necessities will excuse hai-d propos- als and horrid counsels At the close of this session de- clare yourself to be the forwardest to serve the king and com- monweaith, and to give the parliament satisfaction. Fear them not when they meet again in the same body : whose 111 affections I expect to mitigate : but if they proceed. Crust ms with your cause when it is transmitted to the house oflords, * Cfl»ala, p. SS2. n ind I will lay my life upon it to preserve you from sentence,' or the least dishonor. This is my advice, my lord ; if you like it not, truth in the end will find an advocate to defend it." The duke replied no more hut, " I will look whom 1 trust to ;" and flung out of the chamber with menaces in bis counte- nance."* After this repulse the bishop made one vigorous effort to sup- plant the favorite whom he was not allowed to guide. This was on occasion of the resolution taken at court to dissolve the parliament, when he, " with reasons, with supplication?, with tears," besought the king to remember that his father, in his hearing, had "charged him to call parliaments often, and to continue them, though their rashness sometimes did oflTend him ; that in his own experience he never got good by falling out with them But chiefly, sir," says he, " let it never be said that you have not kept good correspondence with your first parliament. Do not disseminate so much un- kindness through all the counties anil boroughs of your realm. The love of the people is the palladium of your crown. Con- tinue this assembly to another session, and expect alteration for the better. If you do not so, the next swarm will come out of the same hive." To this the lords of the council did almost all concur ; but it wanted Buckingham's sufi'rage, who was sure that the king's judgment would follow him against all the table."t This pertinacity of opposition filled the measure of the lord keeper's offences in the eyes of Buckingham, and he would no longer suspend his threatened vengeance. In the month of October the king, who had now no will separate from that of his minister, sent to Williams an order to resign the seals, and also to retire to his bishopric of Lincoln. To the first mandate, the prelate bowed with due submission to his master's will ; but against the last, as a disgrace arbitrarily and unjustly imposed on one who had been accused of no of- fence, he remonstrated with a firm and manly spirit ; ^nd the restiiction was in consequence softened down to a prohibition of presenting himself at the council board uncalled-for ; to which he submitted. Sir Thomas Coventry, attorney gener- al, was appointed lord keeper in his stead, and proved him- self an obsequious instrument of arbitrary power. Buckingham had thus succeeded, almost without an effort, in banishing from public life the importunate monitor who ♦ Haoket'i Life of WiUiama, part ii. p. 16. t lb. 7t htA dmrti lo iound in U* owji ears and those of hk iiiAsC«r dettonciatioas of approaching dangers ; but the dangers them- selves were not the less real ; they were advancing with accele* rated pace and accumulating on every hand. The Cadiz ex- pedition had failed from obvious and gross mismanngement, and indignation was strongly excited against the minister who bad entrusted to bands so incompetent the execution of a plan so ill-digested ; whilst the enormous cost thus fruitlessly in- eurredy had oppressed the exchequer with a fresh load of debt. The coronation, already deferred till the people began to suspect some sinister design in its postponement, must speedily be celebrated at an expense which could ill be afford* ed. Large sums were required for carrying on the war, for the mainienance of a splendid court, and to discharge for* mer debts. At the same time it appeared that all ii regular modes of levying money on the people had been carried as far as could be ventured, since in order to raise a present sup- ply, Charles had been reduced to commit a great part of his plate and jewels to the hands of Buckingham, by whom it had been carried to the Hague and there pawned. Thus, the first parliament of the reign had no sooner been dissolved in dis- pleasure, than every member of the administration confessed the absolute necessity of assembling a new one, which it was not apparent that the court possessed any effectual means of rendering more obsequious to the king and less hostile to the minister than its predecessor. The coronation, announced for Christmas, was further post- poned to Candlemas, parliament was summoned to meet two days later in February, and the year closed upon this eventful prospect 7S CHAPTER IV. 1625. 1626. Disagreement of king and queen. — French attendants. — Letter of king to Buckingham. — Intrigues of Blainvitte — of English ca» tholics. — Order to disarm them. — Letter of court news. — Went- worth^and others compelled to serve as sheriffs. — Coronation. — Wiiliams forbidden tif attend. — Laud directs the ceremony. ^^ Particulars of it. — Queen not crowned nor ambassadors pres* etU. — JFrench ambassador in disfavor. — Parliatnent opened. — Servile speeches of the lord keeper and the speaker. — Grievances considered. — Charges against Buckinghanu^^lnterposition of the peers. — King presses for supplies* — Disputes between king and commons. — Ae^ournment. — 'Measures of Duckitigham against peers. — Oppressive treatment of Williams — of earl of Bristol. — Countercharges of Buckingham and of Bristol who is protected by parliament, — Committal of earl of Arundel. — House of lords obtains his liberation. — Impeachment of Buck" ingham. — Members sent to the Tower. — Buckingham chancellor of Cambridge.--^ King demands supply. ^-^Commons complain respecting recusants. — Require the removal of Buckingham. — Dissolution of parliament. — Remonstrance of the house of com" mons. — King^s proclamation against it. OF the various infelicities which clouded the mind of Charles amid the prime of youth and the first lustre of royalty, non0 appear to have wounded his peace so deeply as those which he experienced in the character of a husband ; and that ftuch was the case is honorable alike to his principles and his heart. His was a temper formed to cheiish steadfastly one strong attachment ; and whilst he faithfully endeavored to fix it on the wedded partner of his throne and life, he found a malignant influence perpetually interposed to check his pur- pose, and forbid the union of their hearts. This influence was that of the crowd of French priests and* attendants which the queen had been preposterously permitted to bring with her, who availed themselves of the pretext of securing her religion to form a close cabal around her, keeping all the English at a distance, while they moulded her to their own purposes snd those of France, — ^purposes dangerous to the tranquility of the slate, and equally incoBsistent with the righta *aud the happiness of her husband, and her own true and permanent interests. The king's disgust at their proceedings was not long a secret. In a private letter of news dated June 1625, we already read ; "These priests have been very im- portunate to have the chapel finished at St. James's, but they find the king very slow in doing that. His answer, one told me, was, that if the queen^s closet, where they now say mads, were not large enough, let them have it in the great chamber ; and if the great chamber were not wide enough, they might use the garden ; and if the garden would not serve their turn, then was the park the fittest place."* The same person writes soon after ; " The friars so frequent the queen's private chamber, that the king is much offended, and so told them, having, as he said, granted them^ more than sufficient liberty in public." The following trait of the queen's behavior is added : " The queen, howjioever very little of stature, yet of a pleasing countenance, (if she be pleased,) but full of spirit and vigor ; and seems of a more than ordinary resolution. With one frown, divers of us being at Whitehall to see her, (being at dinner, and the room somewhat overheated with the fire and company,) she drave us all out of the chamber. I suppose none but a queen could cast such a scowl."f Buckingham was the chosen depositary of his master's domestic disquiets, and has probably been justly charged with aggravating differences between the royal pair. In a letter addressed to him just before the sailing of the Cadiz expedi* tion, the king thus expresses himself: " As for news, my wife begins to mend her manners ; I know not how long it will con- tinue; for they say it is by advice ; but the hest of all is, they say the Monsieurs desire to return home ; I will not say this is cer- tain, for you know, nothing they say can be so."| It proved indeed untrue that the French attendants were desirous to quit a country which opened so wide a field for their intrigues, and Charles in consequence, formed, so early as November 1625, a firm resolution to expel them, which he thus imparted to Buckingham whilst on his embassy to Holland, whence, as we have seen, he expected to obtain permission to proceed to Paris. " Steenie : " I writ to you by Ned Clarke, that I thought I would have cause enough in short time to put away the Monsieurs, either * ElWs LtUtTB^ iu. SOS. t EUif's Lttltrs, iii. 206. X Mwel. SMe Papert, ii. 18. 75 by littempting to steal away my wife, or by making plots with my own subjects. For the first, I cannot say certainly whe« ther it wasi intended, but I am sure it is hindered ; for the oth- er, though I have good grounds to believe it, and am still hunt- ing after it, yet seeing daily the maliciousness of the Monsieurs, by making and fomenting discontentments in my wife I could tarry no longer from advertising of you that I mean to seek for no other grounds to cashier my Monsieurs, having for this purpose sent you this other letter, that you may, if you think good, advertise the queen-mother with my intention ; for this being an action that may have a show of harshness, I thought it was fit to take this way, that she, to whom I have many obligations, may not take it unkindly, and likewise I think I have done you no wrong in my letter, though in some place of it I may seem to chide you. I pray you send me word, with what speed you may, whether ye like this course or not, for I shall put nothing of this in execution while I hear from you. In the mean time I shall think of the convenientest means to do this business with the best mine, but I am resolv- ed it must be done, and that shortly."* The accompanying letter, chiefly remarkable for the solici- tude evinced by the writer to represent his friend and confi- dent in the light of a peacemaker, is as follows : " Steenie : *'Tou know what patience I have had with the unkind usages of my wife, grounded upon a belief that it was not in her nature, but made by ill instruments, and overcome by your persuasions to me that my kind usages would be able to rectify those misunderstandings. I hope my ground may be true ; but I am sure you have erred in your opinion, for I find daily worse and worse effects of ill offices done between u?, my kind usages having no power to mend any thing. Now necessity urges me to vent myself to you in this particu- lar, for grief is eased being told to a friend ; and because I have many obligations to my mother-in-law (knowing that, these courses of my wife are so much against her knowledge that they are contrary to her advice,) I would do nothing concerning her daughter that may taste of any harshness with- out advertising her of the reasons and necessities of the thing, therefore I have chosen you for this purpose, because yoa have been one of the chief causes that have withheld me from these eoursei hitherto, you may well be one of my chief wit- * HmleUm MSB. SS68. 76 nesses that I have been forced into these courses now. You must therefore advertise my mother-in-law that I must remove all those instruments that are causes of unkindness between her daughter and me, few or none of her servants being free of this fault in one kind or other ; therefore I would be glad that she might find a means to make themselves suitors to be gone. If this be not, I hope there can be no exceptions taken at me to follow the example of Spain and Savoy in this particular.* So requiring of thee a speedy answer in this business, for the longer it is delayed the worse it will grow, 1 rest, &c."t With respect to the plot which the king suspected for stealing away his wife, it is remarkable that Madame de Mot- teville mentions having been told long after by Henrietta her- self, that soon after her marriage, finding her situation in England uneasy, she had intended to ask her husband's per- mission to return to France on a visit to her mother^ in which design she was encouraged by Buckingham, who hoped to be appointed to attend her. It is probable that it was the refusal of Louis to receive the duke at his court which dis- concerted this intrigue, and that Charles always remained in ignorance of the part taken in it by his ungrateful and per- fidious favorite. The patience of this prince was not how- ever so nearly exhausted by the petulance of his spouse and the insolences of her servants as he himself imagined ; a proof that Henrietta knew how to mingle smiles and bland- ishments with her frowns, and that she had already made her- self an interest in the afiections of her husband. The French attendants appear to have neither requested their discharge nor mended their manners ; yet he suspended for many months their threatened dismissal, and he still tolerated the presence of Blainville, the French envoy commissioned to settle affairs connected with the queen's household and revenue ; a busj intriguer who, while he pretended to be empowered to treat concerning the accession of his niaster to the league against Austria, was in reality solely intent on fomenting the discon- tents of the English catholics^ and encouraging the queen in opposition to the will of her husband. The populace of London, less forbearing than their sovereign, repeatedly in- suited this emissary in the streets ; be even believed, or affect- « Th« Freaeii atteiid«n(« of (h# swtoni of Hanrietta, marriad to thest trial, bad been diamiaaad ; aa bad also tbe ^paniab Banrants of tbe queen of Uma XIII. 77 ed to believe^ bis life in danger from their violence, and the earl of Holland wrote from Paris tbat he and bis fellow-am- bassador lord Carlisle, were likely to receive harsh treatment in retaliation of any affronts which mi^ht be offered hi|n« Emboldened by French protection, the English catholics inspired the government with so much jealousy, that sir Thomas Gerrard, a Lancashire recusant^ was taken into cus- tody on a charge of treasonable designs, apd strict orders were issued by the council for the seizure of all arms found in the houses of recusant noblemen and others, and the exe- cution of the penal statutes against them ; special care how- ever being taken, as secretary Conway wrote to Buckingham, to exempt from the search all persons nearly connected with his grace. These steps, which like all others tending to cast a stigma ou the Catholics were at this time certain of being hailed with general applause^ may probably be in part regarded as an at- tempt of the administration to conciliate popularity against the impendiflg meeting of parliament, and the resolution taken to abandon Montague to the resentment of the com* mons, bore the same aspect. At the same time however, some measures of an opposite complexion were adopted, re- sulting from the personal apprehensions of the duke, and his predominance in the royal councils. A letter from sir Robert Ingram to sir Thomas Wentwotth, written immediately after the dismissal of the lord keeper^ thus unfolds the state of parties at the court. ** Coming up here into the South, I find your and my good friend removed from his place,* and the seal given to sir Tho- mas Coventry Another good friend of yours, which is my lord marshal [the earl of Arundel] hath the hand of the great duke upon him, who by his means hath brought the king that he will hardly speak with him. My lord cham- berlam [the earl of Pembroke] and he hath been out, but by meditation of some friends there is a formal peace made be- tween them. The duke's power with the king for certain is exceeding great ; and who he will advance shall be advanced^ and who he doth frown upon shall be thrown down. AU the great officers of the kingdom be now bis creatures and at his command. He hath now brought in sir Robert Heath to be attorney, and Mr. Shelton to be solicitor. He was and it possessed that there were four in the higher house, that upon any complaint that should come up of him to them, that they with all their strength should set it forwards there. Vol. I. 9 78 He is likewtge possessed that there was divers combtned against him in the lower house. For them in the higher house, it was my lord's grace of Canterbury, my lord keeper^ my lord marshal, and my lord chamberlain. For them of the lower house, he doth conceire there were many who had their conferences with these four lords and others, that were depending upon them, among which you are not altogether free.*** What were the expedients adopted by Buckingham to free himself from the hostility of his opponents in the upper house will appear in the sequeL Those whom he principally dread- ed in the commons, were incapacitated from being elected by having the office of sheriff forced upon .them in the manner related in the following letter, also addressed by Ingram to sir Thomas Wentworth, of whose eminent talents and un- bounded ambition the duke had thus early conceived a jeaU ousy which does some honor to his penetration* "Noble sir : " God give you joy, you are now the great officer rf Yorkshire, but you had the endeavors of your poor friend to have prevented it. But I think if all the council that was at court had joined together in request for you, it would not have prevailed : For it was set and resolved what should be done before the great duke's going over, and from that the king would not change a tittle. You go along with good company, five parliament men besides yourself, and a seventh cometh in to prevent him from doing hurt. Sir Edward Coke is captain, yourself, sir Francis Seymour, sir Robert Phillips, sir Guy Palmes, Mr. Edward Alford, and the last, who was not of the last parliament, is sir William Fleetwood. The judges proceeded in their course, and so it went to the king ; but when the names came to the king, the king declared himself that he had the names of sevea that he would have sheriffit, and so named them himself and my lord keeper set them down. It was told me by two coun- sellors that in the naming of you, the king said you were an honest gentleman, but not a tittle to any of the rest. This much advantage you have that way. For your being chosen, my poor opinion is, that there did not any thing befal you ia the whole course of your Kfe that is, and will be, more honor to you m the public, who speak most strangely of it, &c.''t The public did indeed " speak strangely" of an act so of* ♦ Slr«Jord LHUri and OufoUkts, i. 28. f Btrtffm-d LetUri, 1 29. 70 ■m fetisive in its character, and at the same time apparently so incompetent to its purpose : the duke, it might be thought, had taken a yery inadequate measure of the danger which threatened him from the parliament, if he expected to avert it by the exclusion of half a dozen leading members ; but it ^ was more to be aoprehended that this sf^p, designed for in* timidatton, would oe followed up by others of a like nature, and all men looked with anxiety towards the approaching time of trial. Some of these compulsory sheriffs conceired that they might nevertheless be returned members for any borough out of their own county : this was the declared opinion of sir Edward Coke himself ; and sir Francis Seymour offered to bring the question to a decision, by causing Wentworth to be elected for aome place in the West, who in return should procure for him the representation of a town in Yorkshire. But this proposal was declined ; it was by no means the in- tention of Wentworth to sacrifice to the popular cause all hope of reconciliation and future favor at court ; and he prti- dentially decided, that this was a business in which it was better to be a spectator than an actor : a judgment of which his father-in-law the earl of Clare pronounced his approba* tion, because, as he expressed it, ** we live under a preroga- tive government, where book-law submits unto lex loquens^** and that ** it is not good to stand within the. distance of ab- solute power."* The various preparatives for the coronation now occupied the attention of the court, and several circumstances marked strongly the spirit of Charles and his advisers. An order was issued, directing all persons possessed of landed pro- perty to the amount of 40L per annum, either to come in and receive the dignity of knighthood, or compound for the omis- sion. No one absolutely denied the legality of this command ; but the great depreciation in the value of money since the rate of knight's fees had been fixed, rendered its strict en- #c>rcement an act of great oppression, and the imposition of fines for neglect at discretion^ was a violent stretch of prerog- ative. The choice of ecclesiastics to prepare and administer the king's oath, was the next point which afforded scope for remark ; and in nothing perhaps was the overbearing and vin- dictive temper of Buckingham suffered to display itself more offensively. - The archbishop of Canterbury, his early patron, * Strafford LeUirt, i. 31. 80 was indeed suffered to take his proper place in the ceremony^ though now classed by the duke amongst bis personal ene- mies; but Williams, whom he justly regarded, on account of his superior abilities, as more ibrmidable, was peremptorily excluded from all participation in the solemnity. '^ A coro- nation,'' says the biographer of thi3 prelate, '^ being usually accompanied with a general pardon, shoula have cast a frown upon none ; yet his place was not granted him to do his homage among the spiritual lords, nor to assist the arch* bishop at the sacred parts of that high solemnity, as dean of Westminster."* The sting of this insult was envenomed by a seeming compliment Some articles of the regalia being reposited in the custody of the dean of Westminster, by whom they were to be solemnly brought forth for the king's iaves* titure, it was necessary that some substitute for him should be appointed, and Williams was requested to nominate one himself from among the prebendaries of the church. Th^ snare was manifest ; Laud was one of them ; and to have passed him by to fix his choice on an ecclesiastic of lower rank, would have been to affront, without necessity or advan- tage, both the bishop and the duke his patron ; on the other band, to have conferred a mark of esteem on his known and* inveterate foe and rival, would have passed for a trait of meanness and hypocrisy ; he adroitly evaded the dilemma by transmitting to the king the names of all the prebendaries^ and requesting that his majesty would make his own election. Laud was immediately named, and although three or four prelates, with the primate at their head, were appointed to consult for the arrangement of the ritual, it was in efifect on the bishop of St. Davids alone that the business devolved ; nor has he escapc^d heavy imputations respecting the maimer in which he acquitted himself of the office. That Laud had altered or omitted some clauses of the co^ ronation oath favorable to popular rights, formed afterwards an article of his impeachment ; but the charge is so far wn- ibunded, that he appears to have been guided by the prece- dent of the oath administered to king James, which was fol- lowed verbatim. It is not denied however, that it was he who brought back into the ritual an ancient clause, discoa- tinued for several reigns even before the reformation, by which the king was exhorted to give greater honor to the clergy than the laity^ as being those who come nearer to the ♦ Lif$qfWUUmm, put u. p. 67. 81 altar than others ; and another which seemed to ascribe to the king himself somewhat of a sacred sacerdotal character. He also thought proper to bring forth an old neglected cruci- fix and place it conspicuously on the altar. Buckingham officiated as lord-high^constable on the occasion. The coronation of Charles, which took place Feb. 2ndy is described in a contemporary letter as ** one of the tnost punctual Muoe the conquest ;" but in one principal circum- stance of splendor it was deficient ; the presence and par- ticipation of the queen. We are told by sir John Finet, at this time assistant master of the ceremonies, that Henrietta refused to be crowned with her husband, as she must then have shared in a rite administered by protestant bish- ops ; she having made previously, without success, the mon- strous demand, that the ceremony should be separately performed for herself by a prelate of her own religion. She would not even appear in the church as a spectator, but viewed the procession from a room over the palace gate.* It appears from other authority, that at this period there was great dissension between the royal couple ; and Blainville chose likewise to absent himself on the occasion, not, as he said, that he was so extremely scrupulous, but because he had taken some pfience in matter of ceremony : yet he did think it " incongruous'* for him to be a specta- tor where his master's sister *^ excused her presence.'* The Venetian ambassador professed to entertain no scruples, because he regarded a coronation as a civil rite, but since Blainidlle bad refused to attend, and no other ambassador except ** the heretic Dutch" was to be present, be likewise declined to appear. f Such were the indignities to which the profesmon of protestantism at this time exposed the bead of the Anglican church ! Unless we should rather say, such was the fraternal amity so lately pledged by the sover- eign of France to the king of England ! It must however be confessed, that so long as the exercise of the protestant religion was forbidden in most catholic countries, and that of the Ro- man-catholic religbn in England was visited with heavy civil penalties, greater courtesy could not reasonably be expected : and the prevalent emotion excited by those circumstances must be one of astonishment at the infiituation which could prompt a protestant prince so circumstanced, to form the ♦ Fm«ti PkOoxmiu, p. 169. f Ibid. 83 closest of all human ties with a princess strictly educated ia the opposite profession. As soon as the coronation was over, the king, ** after three days silence^ spoke graciously to the queen, but forbade the [French] ambassador the court/' as the cause of their disa- greement. Blainville hereupon removed to Greenwich, on which the king sent to the ports to Btop all passage outwards, and dispatched a messenger with letters into France. He al- so remanded the ambassador to hb lodgings at Durham house and diminished his daily allowance from sixty pounds to fifty.* The new parliament was opened on Feb. 4, 16216, by the king in person ; but the speech was delivered in his presence by the lord keeper. This oration was remarkable for a studi- ed exaltation of the character and office of the sovereign, and a proportional abasement of the people and their representa- tives; who were prompted to reflect upon *^ that incompara- ble distance between the supreme height and majesty of a mighty monarch, and the submissive awe and lowliness of a loyal subject.'' Sir Heneage Finch, being chosen speaker, **made," says Whitelock, "an harangue suitable to the times ; extolling the king, and praising monarchy, parliaments, bishops, lords, commons, laws, judges, and all that were in place, and inveighing against popery and the king of Spain."t But the popular representatives were neither to be awed nor flattered into the abandonment of their fixed purpose to make the overthrow of Buckingham and a material change of measures, the condition of their supplies. According to the prediction of Williams, this parliament began where the last bad left off, with the consideration of grievances ; which they reduced to heads and referred to different committees. The principal ones were the following. The diminution of the Kingdom in strength and honor. The increase and counte- nancing of papists. The not guarding of the narrow seas. Plurality of offices in one hand. Sales of honors and places of judicature. The delivering up oi ships to the French. The misemploy ment of three subsidies and three fifteenths. It was likewise ordered that the duke, on whom these charges principally reflscted, should have notice of the intention of the house speedily to resume its debates on these matters. Charles and his minister now sought a resource in the au- thority of the house of peers. At the king's suggestion, the lords appointed a committee to consider of the safety and de« « EUii'a LetUrs, iii. 323. f Whitelock's Mem. p. 3. 88 fence of the kingdom ; and a report having been speedtlj prepared, in which it was declared expedient that two fieeta should be immediately sent out, one for the defence of the British coasts, the other to act offensively against Spain, the lords desired a conference on the subject with the commons, who declined it however, with a civil intimation, that they should ever be careful of the national defence, and that they would also maintain their own privileges. They then resum- ed their debate on the conduct of the duke. Again the king interposed by a more urgent demand of sup* ply in the form of a letter to the speaker, stating, that because their *^ unreasonable slowness*' might produce as ill effects at home as a denial, and hazard all abroad, he has thought fit thus to let the commons know, that without more loss of time he looks for an answer what they wiH give, according to his expec* taiions and their promises, '* wherein,*' he adds, ^as we press for nothing beyond the present state and condition of our sub«> jects, so we accept no less than is proportionable to the great- ness and goodness of the cause." ** And for the busi- ness at home," he concludes, ^^ we command you to promise them in our name, that after they shall have satisfied us in this our reasonable demand, we shall not only continue them together at this time so long as the season will permit, but call them shortly again to perfect those necessary businesses which shall now be left undone ; and we shall willin^y apply fit and reasonable remedies to such just grievances as they shall pre- sent unto us in a dutiful and mannerly way, without throwing an ill-odor upon our present government, or upon the govern- ment of our late blessed father ; and if there be yet who desire to find fault, we shall think him the wisest reprehender of times past who, without reflecting backward, can give us counsel how to settle the present state of things, and to provide for the future safety and honor of the kingdom." To this address, equally unconstitutional and ungracious, — since it demanded in the tone of a master supplies which for- mer princes had been content to solicit as a boon, and which it was the undoubted right of the people, through their repre- sentatives, to grant or refuse at pleasure, whilst it prescribed to the parliament the subjects of their deliberations and the order of their proceedings ; and prohibited, in effect, all such inquiries into the malversations of public functionaries as it was not only the right but the duty of the house to institute with a view, if necessary, to the impeachment of offenders,— the com- mons returned an answer at once firm and temperate. They 84 assured his majetty of their lore and loyalty, their 2eal for his honor and [greatness on all occasions, and especially for the success of the cause in which he and his allies were justly engaged ; " And," they added, " because they cannot doubt but your majesty in your great wisdom, and even out of justice, and according to the example of your most famous predecessors, will be pleased graciously to accept the faithful and necessary information and advice of your parliament^ which can hare no end but the service of your majesty and the safety of your realm, in discovering the causes and pro- posing the remedies of these great evils which have occasion- ed your majesty's wants and your people's grief. They there- fore, in confidence and full assurance of redress therein, do with one consent propose (though in former time such courae hath been unused,) that they really intend to assist and sup- ply your majesty in such a way, and in so ample a meas- ure, as may make you safe at home and feared abroad ; for the dispatch whereof they will use such diligence as your ma- jesty's pressing occasions shall require." Charles, whether prompted by Buckingham or urged by bis own rash and haughty gfiiit is uncertain, replied to their an- swer as follows :-^ Mr. Speaker : — ^The answer of the commons delivered by you I like well of, and do take it for a full and satisfactory an- swer, and I thank them for it, and I hope you will with all expe- dition take a course for performance thereof, the which will turn to your own good as well as mine ; but for your clause therein of presenting of grievances, I take that but for a pa- renthesis in your speech, and not a condition ; and yet, for answer to that part, I will tell you, I will be as ready to hear your grievances aa my predecessors have been, so that you will apply yourselves to redress grievances and not to inquire after grievances. I must let you know that I will not allow any of my servants to be questioned amongst you ; much less such as are of eminent place and near unto me : The old question was ; * What shall be done to the man whom the king will honor V but now it hath been the labor of some to seek what may be done against him whom the king thinks fit to honor. I see yon specially aim at the duke of Buckingham ; I wonder what hath so altered you. I do well remember that in the last parliament in my fother's time, when he was an instrument to break the treaties, all of you (and yet I cannot say all, for I know some of you are changed, but yet the house of commons is always the same,) did so much 85 honor and respect him, that ail tha honor conferred on him "WBM too little ; and what he hath done since, to aker or change your minds, I wot not ; but can assure you he hath not meddled, or done any thing concerning the public or com- monwealth, but by special directions and appointment, and as my servant, and is so far from gaining, or improring his estate thereby, that I verily think he bath rather impaired the sSme. ^* I would you would hasten my supply, or else it will be worse for yourselves ; for if any ill happen, I think I shall be the last shall feel it." The commons forbore to reply upon their sovereign, but they proceeded with added zeal and vigor in their attack on his minister. Dr. Turner, a civilian, propounded to the house six queries respecting acts of mal-ad ministration im- puted to the duke by common fame, and the house, supported by the opinions of Selden, Noy, and other lawyers among its members, came to a resolution that common fame was a good ground for its proceeding either i^y inquiry, or by presenting 4he complaint to the king or the lords. The next day, as the debate on this subject was proceeding, sir Richard Weston interposed with a message from the king, complaining of a seditious speech used in the house by Mr. Clement Coke, youngest son of sir Edward,— 4hat it was better to be eaten up by a foreign enemy than destroyed at home,- — ^and still more of Dr. Turner's having **made an inquiry of sundry articles against the duke of Buckingham, as he pretended, but indeed against the honor and govern- ment of the king his late father. This," he added, *^ his majesty saith is such an example that he can by no means suflfer, though it were to make inquiry of the meanest of his servants, much less against one so near unto biro, and doth wonder at the foolish impudency of any man that can think be should be drawn out of any end to offer such a sacrifice, much unworthy the greatness of a king and master of such a servant. And therefore his majesty can no longer use his wonted patience, but desireth the justice of the house against the delinquents ; not doubting but such course will be taken that he shall not be constrained to use his regal authority to right himself against these two persons." The house, referring the consideration of this lofty mes- sage to another opportunity, resumed its former topic in a tone which evinced in the majority a spirit above intimida- tion ; but they found leiaure to make a vote for three subsidies Vol. I. 10 86 and three fifteenths, which was to pass into an act as soon 9b the grievances should be presented to the king and answered by him. This clause, by which a condition was unequivocal- ly appended to the grant, filled the measure of Charles's in- dignation, and after the example of his father he sent for the two houses to Whitehall, to listen to an oration addressed to the commons only, and delivered 4)artly by bis own mouth, partly by that of the lord keeper, in which he professed 4o ehow them " their errors,*' in hopes they would amend thera. These errors as explained by the lord keeper were^ their omit- ting to punish either the speech of Clement Coke or the in- solency of Turner, whose reproaches against the government of the king and his father they had on the contrary adopted ; — their persisting to accuse the duke contrary to the express prohibition of his majesty, who was the best judge of his ac- tions ; — their suffering the privy council to be traduced in that house by men whose years and education could not attain to that depth, and finally, the inadequacy of the supply which they had voted, and the manner of it, which was " dishonor- able and full of distrust." They were commanded to amend these faults by yielding to the directions they had already re- ceived, and ceasing this, ^' uDparliamentary inquisition" into abuses which were to be left to the correction of the king him- self ; and with respect to the supply, they were commanded to go together, and by Saturday return their answer bow much they would add to it, which unless they did, and unless the supply were ample, and without condition express or implied, his majesty would no more expect a supply this way, nor suffer them to sit longer. If they should listea to this " gra- cious admoniiion," his majesty was ready to forget the past. The king now spoke again ; — he desired to remind them that ^Aey had made him their instrument with his father to break the treaties ; and added, " Now that you have all things according to your wishes, and that I am so far engaged that you think there is no retreat; now you begin to set the dice, and make your own game ; but I pray you be not deceived ; it is not a parliamentary way, nor a way to deal with a king. Mr. Coke told you it was better to be eaten up by a foriegn enemy than to be destroyed at home ; indeed I think it is more honor for a king to be invaded and almost destroyed by a foreign enemy than to be despised by his own subjects. " Remember that parliaments are altogether in my power for their calling, sitting, and dissolution ; therefore, as I find the fruits of them good or evil, they are to continue or not 87 to be ; and remember that if in this time, instead of mend- ing your errors, by delay you persist in your errors, you make them greater and irreconcilable. Whereas on the other stde,~ if you do go on cheerfully to mend them, and look to the dis- tressed state of Christendom, and the affairs of the kingdom, as it lieth now by this great engagement, you will do your- selves honor, you shall encourage me to go on with parlia- ntents, and I hope ail Christendom shall fed the good of it.'' The commons, on their next meeting, resolved themselves into a grand committee to debate with locked doors on the resolutions to be taken respecting these manifestations of the royal will ; and his majesty learning that his commands and directions were '^subject to misunderstanding," appointed Buckingham, at a conference of the two houses, to explain, or, in other words, to relinquish both the peremptory de- mand of supply by a certain day, and the prohibition to discuss grievances. He was also to offer a defence of his own conduct and administration ; but this late and awkward retraction could no more be accepted as an atonement for the insulted dignity and violated privileges of an English house of commons, than the plausible explanations of the duke, unsupported by witnesses or documents, could be received as a satisfactory answer to the serious charges which it was believed could be substantiated against him ; and they procaeded to embody their sentiments in a remon- strance. After some previous explanations of their con- duct, it is thus firmly and zealously that they defend the right and utility of parliamentary impeachment : ^' We hum- bly beseech your majesty to be informed by us your faithful commons, who can have no private end but your majesty's service and the good of our country, that it hath been the ancient, constant, and undoubted right and usage of parlia- ments to question and complain of all persons, of what de- gree sovever, found grievous to the commonwealth in abusing the power and trust committed to them by their sovereign. A course approved not only by the examples in your father's days, of famous memory, but by frequent precedents in the best and most glorious reigns of your majesty's noble progeni- tors, appearing both in records and histories ; without which liberty in parliament, no private man, no servant to a king, per- haps no counsellor, without exposing himself to the hazard of great enmity and prejudice, can be a means to call great oflScers in question for their misdemeanors, but the commonwealth might languish under their pressures without redress : And 98 whatsoereT w« shall do accordingly in this parliament^ wc doubt not but it shall redound to the honor of th© crown, and welfare of your subjects." With respect to supplies, they desire his majesty to put confidence in their promises of support, and generally, not to give ear to the reports of priyate persons for their own ends, nor to judge their proceedings whilst la agitation, but to expect the issue and conclusion of their labors. To this unwelcome address, the king declined to gire any present answer, and the court party in the commons carried by a small majority an adjournment of a week, to give him leisure for concerting his further measures. In the mean- time, several transactions had occurred concerning members of *the house of peers, too important as examples of the spirit of despotism exhibited by the king and bis ruling counsellor, to be lightly passed over. Buckingham had succeeded, as we have seen, in depriving* bishop Williams of his oiSce of lord keeper, in driving him from the council*board, and banishing him to his episcopal seat of Buckden. He had also caused him to be prohibited from tendering the performance of any of his official func- tions at the coronation ; and with a view to humble his spirit still more^ and deter him from entering the ranks of opposition, spies were set over him, prejudices were excited against him in the mind of the king, dark hints were dropped of an im- pending prosecution for misdemeanors not specified, and Buckingham even Ihreatened, in defiance of fundamental laws, to deprive him of his bishopric. But •Williams was not of a temper to desert himself and his fortunes, and whilst he cautiously avoided any act which might brmg him within the scope of a star-chamber prosecution, or which might even render his breach with the court irreparable, he cultivated his interest in the country, — ^kept his house hospitably and popu- larly open to men of all parties, showed some countenance to that class of divines who were under displeasure with the king, and thus proclaimed himself as a chief who, far from acquiescing in his exclusion from public life as final and irre- versible, confidently anticipated a speedy recall, either by entering into a composition with the favorite, or by conspir- ing with his other enemies to efiect his ruin. At present, Buckingham, who had given his confidence to Laud, was rather inclined to brave than to conciliate his rival ; but judging it expedient to deprive him of the means of exert- ing bb hostility in parliament, he rashly procured from his 89 infatuated master the unheard-of command, that no writ of summons should be issued to the bishop of Lincoln. Wil- liams, who had silently acquiesced in his exclusion from offi- ces of pure ceremony, did not think proper to submit with the same passiveness to a denial of the most important of the civil rights attached to hi$ rank ; and whilst he represented to the king that he was willing, in obedience to his gracious pleasure, to abstain from attending the parliament in person, he strongly insisted on receiving a writ of summons, as a thing which under the last reign had not been denied even to prisoners and condemned persons, and without which he could not make a proxy. After a hard contest, — for the knGig struggled to have at least the nomination of the proxy, and proposed one disagreeable to the biihop, — ^he carried his point, and lodged his procuration with Andrews the venera- ble bishop of Winchester.* In a letter addressed by Williams to the king on this business, after a spirited remonstrance against the injuries done him by Buckingham, and the calumnious reports by which he had blackened him to his sovereign, we find the following striking representation of the evil effects of his majesty's blind devoted- ness to the dictates of an arrogant favorite. ** My case, dread sovereign, is miserable ; and the more because it is not mine alone. Your commands come immediately in your own name, and therefore must be readily obeyed. Tour graces are strain- ed through the hands of another, and therefore are either not at all, (as in my case,) or not so purely and sincerely received. And when your majesty punisheth, (pardon a truth plainly delivered, which you were wont to love, dread sovereign ;) you do it not like yourself, because you do it not yourself. A king, be he never so severe, when he chasteneth his subjects, doth punish them with justice because they are his subjects ; but yet with mercy because they are his own. An angry lord that makes bold with the king's authority, lays on load, as up- on men, and that without mercy, as upon the subjects of ano- ther And in my case for the present, if I should stand upon my right, and refuse your majesty, I must expect all se- verity, because another hath your rod. If I shall yield and obey, I must hope for no acceptation, because another holds the garland. And for this other, if I seek him, my letters are showed, and I am made foul and guilty ; if I let him alone, I am deprived of the sun and the rain, the ordinary graces and ♦ Life 0j FTtWuww, p»rt ii. p. 68. 90 influences of your majesty. Lastly, when I know, and all the world besides, that I sink only under the causeless malice of a subject, yet doth that great man wash his hands, and publish to the vexation of my honest soul, that I lie buried under the immediate hatred of my sovereign. And there- fore, with a humble protestation against fear of putiishm6nt, which cannot fall upon my innoccncy, or hope of favor, sure to be kept back by the greatness of my adversary ; I do, out of religious duty and mere obedience to your sacred majesty, and no other respect whatever, send this proxy for my lord of Winchester.*** Another opponent, who had been still more deeply injured by the duk«, and of whose retaliation, at this crisis of his fortune, he stood in greater dread, was the earl of Bristol. By two years' patient and courtier-like endurance of unjust per- secutions and arbitrary restraint, this statesman had vainly striv- en to expiate his knowledge of the accumulated misdemean- ors of the favorite respecting the Spanish negotiations, and the falsehoods in which he had involved both himself and Charles by his narrative to parliament of these transactions ; and should despair, or the hope of vengeance now urge him to a public disclosure of these circumstances, Buckingham might fear lest the king would be compelled, for the sake of his own honor, to disgrace the adviser or partner of so much baseness. To avert this danger seemed perhaps as much the interest of the sovereign as the minister, and command was given that the earl of Bristol's writ of summons should like- wise be withheld, A short time before, they had sought to intimidate him by subjecting him to an examination by cer- tain lords -commissioners on several articles ; but to these his answers had proved so clear and satisfactory that the com- mission was never called upon to make a report, yet he was now asked whether he would put himself upon his trial, or be content to sit still and take the benefit of a general pardon of king James, and of the king's coronation pardon ; and whether, in the last case, he would forbear to cast dishonor upon the king by asserting his own innocence. In reply, Bristol declined to renounce the benefit of the pardons to which he was entitled ; but he required to know whether it was intended to restore him to the common rights of a free man and a peer, and he absolutely refused to forgo the pow- er of asserting and proving his innocence to his family and ♦ Lift of WiUiatM, part ii. p. 69. 91 friends. Soon afler, convinced that be bad notbing to hope either from the favor or the justice of bis sovereign, he took the decided step of presenting a petition to the house of lords, showing that he, a peer of the realm, had not received his sum- mons to parliament, desiring their lordships to mediate with his majesty that he might enjoy the liberty of a subject and the privilege of the peerage, and praying tbat if any charge be brought against him, he may be tried by parliament.* The business having been referred to a committee of privilege who reported that the house ought to beseech, his majesty to send writs to the earl of Bristol and to such other lords whose sumjnonses had been stopped without lawful cause. Bucking- bam signified to the house, that the king had already sent the carl his writ, but accompanied by a letter which he read, in which, to serve the present purpose, Charles in a rude and harsh style, revived against the earl the charge of attempting to induce him, when at Madrid, to renounce his protestant faith. In a second petition, the earl acquainted the house that, thanks to their intercession, he had.'indeed received his writ, but along with it a letter from the lord keeper, commanding him in his majesty's name to forbear his personal attendance, and referred it to their wise consideration '^ how far this may trench upon the libprty and safety of the peers and the authority of their letters patents, to be in this sort discharged by a let« ter missive of a subject without the king's hand." He went on to impute all the wrongs he had endured to ''the power and industry of the duke," who sought to keep him from the presence of the king and parliament lest he should disclose many crimes concerning him, and he beseeched the house to mediate with the king that he might come to parliament, there to be beard in accusation of him. Charles, in return, sent a message to the peers signifying that he had heard of a petition preferred by the earl of Bristol to the house, "so void of duty and respects that he hath great cause to punish him ;" and that being resolved to put his own cause against the earl upon the honor and justice of the house, it was his royal pleasure that he should be sent for as a delinquent, to answer bis ofiTences committed both in the Spanish negoti- ation and since ; and his scandalizing the duke of Bucking- ham immediately, and by reflection his majesty, " with whose privity and directions the duke did guide his actions*" *** Rushwortb, i. 240. et seq. 02 Nothing could be plainer, than that the charge thus brought against Bristol for acts which, if any offences at all, bad been expressly covered by royal pardons, was merely an artifice designed to put him out of a capacity of prosecuting his accusation against Buckingham, and the peers, viewing it in this light, declared that they would nevertheless receive his articles against the duke and his instrument secretary Con- way ; and they further resolved that the testimony of the carl should not be *^ prevented, prejudiced or impeached*' by it Accordingly, on May 1st, Bristol tendered his accusation, being himself brought up in custody of the gentleman-usher, to answer the charge of the king, which was to have the. pre- cedence ; but on which the lords absolutely refused to com- mit him to the Tower. Baffled in this design, the king and his favorite sought to avail themselves of expedients equally unconstitutional and still more iniquitous. They made an attempt to carry the cause out of the jurisdiction of the house of lords into the King's bench, where the prisoner could be assisted by no counsel, could examine no witnesses against the king, and could not be informed of the charges against him in conveni- ent time to prepare his defence ; and by an arraignment in which court he might be disabled from making good his charge against the duke. On all which accounts, as well as because it was an unexampled infringement on the privileges of the peerage, and the honor and justice of the house, the earl of Bristol petitioned the lords against such a proceeding. The judges being hereupon questioned how a peer impeach- ed of high-treason should be tried, and answering that it must be before his peers in parliament, this scheme was also, of necessity, abandoned. The king, who had caused himself to be named as the earPs accuser to the house, now came for- ward with a strange offer to appear himself in the capacity of a witness against him respecting certain transactions in Spain,, and oh reference being made by the lords to the judges to know whether his majesty could lawfully be a witness in a case of high-treason, they received the royal command not to answer the question. But all these efforts to oppress an inno- cent man by acts of power, served only to interest the parlia- ment and people the more strongly in iiis behalf, and to agg^- vate the odium against Buckingham, no small portion of which now began to be reflected on a master who took so much pains to identify himself with the most obnoxious acta 93 of hit mimster, and evinced so fixed a resdution to protect htm at all hazards. The ease of the earl of Arundel was another and, if possi- ble, a still grosser attempt upon the privileges of the peerage, and one which plainly warned them to unite more firmly in their common defence. Shortly after the meeting of par- liament, this peer, the known enemy of Buckingham, and the holder of five proxies, which, as well as his own vote, were lost by his absence, had been committed to the Tower by warrant from the king without any special cause assigned ; though it was given out to be on account of a marriage privately contracted between his son lord Makravers and the sister of the duke of Lenox, a lady of the Stuart family and his majesty's ward. In the first instance, the peers con- tented themselves with inquiring the cause of the earl's absence from the lionse ; to which the lord keeper answered, that he was restrained for a misdemeanor personal to his majesty, which lay within bis own knowledge, and had no relation to matters of parliament Next day, the king by message avowed tMs answer, and affirmed it to be no invasion of the privileges of the peerage. The lords on this appoint- ed a committee of privilege to search the records, who could find no precedent of the committal of a peer during the sitting of pariiament but by judgment of the house itself, unless in cases of treason, felony, or breach of the peace. A petition and remonstrance to the king, claiming the earl's release as of undoubted right, was in consequence carried unanimously, and a committee appointed to present it to his majesty for his answer. The king demurred, promising a reply in convenient time. Ailer several fruitless applications, the house presented on May 9th a fresh petition, in which * they declared themselves humble suitors for a gracious and present answer. Charles, taking fire at the word preeeni^ an- swere, in his rude and choleric style, that he had never known such a message from one house to the other, and when he re- ceived a message fit to come from them to their sovereign, they shonld receive an answer. Omitting only the word at which offence had been taken, the house again tendered its petition, and again received a dilatory answer. On May 19th they presented a fresh petition ; the king in reply affect- ed to take umbrage at their importunity as a mistrusting of bis promises, and reasserting bis pretended right of commit- ting for an offence directly against himself, added, for their further satisfoction, that he had also thii^ of far greater iny- Vol. I. 11 portance to lay to ArundePs chaise, which however he would not jet disclose^ because they were not " ripe,'' and it would greatly prejudice his service. Again the committee of privileges met, and still another petition was presented, to which no better answer being re-» turned than an admonition from his majesty not to distrust him, and a promise that he would give them satisfaction before the end of the session, the housfe took at length the efficacious resolution of adjourning, and entertaining no other business whatsoever till their member should be restored to them. Finding them determined, the king, on June 8th, with undis- guised reluctance, at length liberated the earl of Arundel. As his majesty never brought forward in any shape the h^hly important charges which he said he had to make i^ainst thid nobleman, but on the contrary shortly after admitted him to bis presence, and subsequently conferred upon him offices of high honor and trust, it is impossible to regard his assertions on this subject in any other light than tleliberate falsehoods employed for the purpose of deluding the peers into an ac- quiescence in the violation of the most sacred and indispensable of all their privileges as members of the legislature. Meantime, the house of commons were busied in preparing their impeachment of the duke, and at a conference with the lords, thirteen articles of accusation were presented by the dght managers to whom this business had been specially in- trusted, amongst whom were included the patriots Pym, Selden and Eliot, serjeant Olanville, sir Dudley Digges, lately ambassador to the Czar and afterwards master of the rolls, and Christopher Wandsford the relation and confidential agent of Sir Thomas Wentworth. Sir Dudley Digges opened the business in " an eloquent speech,*' according to the state of the times, in which " he compared England to the worid, the commons to the earth and sea, the king to the sun, the lords to the planets, the clergy to the fire, the judges and magis- trates to the air, and the duke of Bucks, to a blazifig star." The other managers successively enlarged on the several articles, which turned chiefly on the following charges : His sale of offices and titles of honor, his accuraulaUon of these and of pensions upon himself and his family, and the corrupt trafficking by which he had procured the surrender of places to himself; — his neglect of the duties of lord-high-ad mtral ; — bis unwarrantable seizure of goods out of a French ship ; his extortion of the sum of i:iO,000 from the East India Com- pany by staying their vessels from sailing ;— his causing the 95 Tangnard and other ships to be given up to the French, know- iDg them to be designed against La Rochelie ; — bis embez- zling the king's monej, and procuring to himself grants of crown lands to a great value, and his causing a plaister and portions to be given to king James in bis last illness; styled ^* a transcendent presumption of a dangerous quality." Digges and Eiiot, after their speeches delivered on this oc- casion, were beckoned out, under pretence of a message from the king, and committed to the Tower, and Charles com- ing to the house of lords attended by the accused favourite, avowed the act ; and also offered himself as a witness in the duke's behalf, declaring that he could clear him of every one of the matters laid to his charge. The peers, unwilling to carry matters to extremity against a minister thus protected, declined compliance with a message of the lower house re- questing that the duke might be committed to custody ; and Buckingham made on the occasion a braving speech, desiring that his trial might be hastened, and complaining of the malice of his accusers. On the other hand, the commons, resent- ing the imprisonment of their members, would proceed with no other business till this wrong to their liberties should be repaired ; and they had resolved themselves into a grand com- mittee to deliberate on the steps to be taken, when sir Dudley Carlton, whose long employment in foreign embassies had rendered him familiar with the laws and manners of other nations, and a stranger to the constitution and spirit of his own, took upon him seriously to admonish the house to be- ware how they trenched upon the king's prerogative, lest, by incensing him, they should enforce him to use new counsels, that is, as he explained himself, to follow ihe example of other kings, who finding their own strength, had overthrown for their turbulency the parliaments by which all christian king- doms had been formerly governed "in a most flourishing manner," and had reduced their subjects to hunger, naked- ness, and the most deplorable misery, by arbitrary taxes and oppression. " Let us be careful then," concluded the orator, ^'to preserve the king's good opinion of parliaments, which bringeth this happiness to this nation, and makes us envied of all others, while there is this sweetness between his majesty and the commons ; lest we lose repute of a free-born nation by our turbulency in parliament" On the conclusion of this speech, several members, moved by the audacious and un- beard-of menace, exclaimed, " To the bar, to the bar ! "* and would have brought the courtier to beg pardon on his kneef. 96 ft%btly oontidered howerer, it was the king himself who bad most cause to be indignant at this intimation of the existence of designs on bis part calcnlated, bj the very statement of the speaker, to reduce the whole people of England to slavery, beggary, and wretchedness. It is difficult to believe that Charles had actually formed intentions so attrocious ; but king James had pretty <^uly asserted the doctrine, that kings made, as it were, a species, every individual belonging to which was, by right divine, invested with ail the powers which had been anywhere, or at any time, attached to the character : nothing therefore was more Hkely to arouse sus- picion than any reference to the example of foreign absolute princes ; and who that truly knew the spirit of the people, could doubt that a threatened attack upon the most sacred sanctuary of English liberty would prove an alarum to the defence, not a signal for surrender 1 With respect to the two imprisoned members, sir Dudley Carlton stated that Eliot was committed for urging too bitterly against the duke the chaige of taking for his own profit valu« able commodities out of a French ship^ in retaliation of which the goods of English merchants were seized in France ; and for treating so great a person with too little ceremony, cal- ling him ** this man." Digues was charged with saying in reference to the remedies administered to king James, ** that he did forbear to speak further, in regard of the king's hon- or ;•» but the members of both houses solemnly attested that be had employed no such expressions; and this attempt at intimidation having failed of its purpose in a manner here- after to be explained, the two members were released. The duke of Buckingham, though attainted by the com- mons of high-treason, was neither imprisoned, as we baYC seen, nor restrained from sitting and voting with the peers who were to be his judges ; in the court and the council he was still paramount, and his audacity carried him so far as to more in the house of peers that the crown lawyers m^ht be allowed to conduct his defence. On this subject Hacket gives us the following very curious particulars. ** The duke demanded that the attorney general might f^ead for him in the house of peers against the charge transmitted by the com- mons, which was opposed, because the attorney was one of tbe king's learned counsel, and sworn to plead in causes con- oerning the king, and not against them. And tiie king is supposed to be ever present m the noble senate of the lortls. ft was rejoined, that the king would dispense with the attor- 97 iiey^s oath : It came to a case of conscience, and was refer- red to the bishop [of Uncoln's] learning. Some of them judged for the duke, that Ihis was not an assertor j oath, which admits np alteration, but a promissory oath, from which promise the king, if he pleased, might lelease his learned counsel. Bishop Felton, a derout man, and one that feared God, very learned, and a most apostolical orer- seer of the clei^y whom he governed, argued, that some promissory oaths might indeed be relaxed, if great cause did occur ; yet not without great cause, lest the obligation of so sacred a thing as an oath should be wantonly slighted. And in this oath which the attorney had taken, it was dangerous to absalve him from it, lest bad example should be given to dispense with any subject that had sworn faithful service to the crown ; (or which plain honesty he was wounded with a sharp rebuke. And the reverend author told me this with tears."* That a case of conscience should ever have been made of a point so plain in law and reason as the duty of an attorney general in an impeachment of high-treason, is an astonishing* proof of that unfortunate addiction to casuistry wlttch, in many subsequent instances, enabled this roie^uided prince to palliate to his own conscience those violations of faith or truth which rendered him despicable in the eyes of his subjects ; and Knee Buckingham certainly received in private the assistance of the crown lawyers, it is probable that had the cause come to a hearing, in despite of the judg- ment of the bishop who *^ feared Grod," the peers wouM have been called upon either to sanction or rebuke so gross an ir* regularity. The defence read by the duke in the house, was a temper- ate and well-constructed plea, but certainly not of a kind to eatablbh his innocence. The acts of corruption or extortion are either denied, explained, or extenuated ; the loan of ships to the French is slurred aver ; many things are defended by the unconstitutional plea of the privity or direction of the king himself; and in conclusion, the benefit of the general pardon of king James and the coronation pardon of bis son, is dis- tinctly claimed. Having delivered this answer, Buckingham ui^ed the lords to send lo the commons to expedite their re- ply, and the commons as earnestly desired a copy of his de- fence. the impeachment of the d«ke was yet pending, the * X(f« ^ ffiUMfWi psrtii. p. 70. 98 ofRct of chancellor .of th« uniyeraly of Cambridge be- coming vacant by tbe death of the earl of Suffolk, Charl^i was induced to give a memoraUe token of hia blind attach- ment to bis minister, and a no less memorable one of his hos- tility to the commons of England and disdain of all decent observances towards them, by recommending him to this dis- tinguished station. Of the means used to procure the duke^s election, the zealous servility of the Arminian clergy, and*the indignant feelings excited in the more respectable members of the university, the following extract of a letter written on tbe spot by Mr. Mead, and addressed to sir Martin Btuteville, may serve as a monument ^' . • . . Our chancellor my lord of Suflblk died on Sunday about two o'clock in tbe morning ; which no sooner came to our ears on Monday, but about dinner time arrives Dr. Wil- son, my lord of London's chaplain, without letters, but with a message from his lord that we should choose the duke ; sueh being his majesty's desire and pleasure. Our Heads met after the sermon, when by Drs. Wren, Beale, Maw and Pask, this motion was urged with vehemency, and as it were confi- dence of authority ; that the rest were either awed or persuad- ed ; and those that would not, yet durst not adventure to nriake further opposition, though they inclined, if it be lawful to say so, to moi% advised counsel. It was in vain to say that Dr. Wil- son's bare word from his lord was no sufficient testimony of his majesty's pleasure ;^ nor such as might be a ground of an act of such consequence as that we should by this act prejudge the parliament : that instead of patronage we sought for, we might bring a lasting scandal and draw a general con- tempt upon the university as men of most prostitute flattery : that it would not be safe for us to engage ourselves in public differences : that at least, to avoid the imputation of fcrfly and temerity in the doing, it would be wisdom to wait our full time of fourteen days, and not to precipitate the election. To tbb it was answered ; ^ the sooner the better, and tbe more ac- ^ptable.' If we stayed to expect the event in parliament, it would not be worth * God ha' mercy.' ** Upon the news of this consultation and resolution of the Heads, we of the body murmur, we run one to another to complain* We say the Heads in this election have no more to do than any of us, wherefore we advise what to do, and who to set up Hereupon, on Tuesday morning, notwith- standing every Head sent for his Fellows to persuade them for the duke, some durst be so bold as to visit for the contrary 90 in public But the same day • . * the bkhop of London arriTed unexpected! j, yet found his own college. Queen's^ most bent and resolved another wa j, to his no small discon- tentment. At the same time comes to town Mr. Mason, my lord duke's secretary, and Mr. Cozens, and letters from my lord of Durham, expressly signifying in his master's name, as they told and would maice us believe, that his majesty would be well pleased if we chose the duke. My lord bishop labors, Mr. Mason visits for his lord, Mr. Cozens for the most true pa- tron of the clei^ and of all scholars. Masters belabor (heir Fellows. ..... Divers in town got hackneys and fled to avoid importunity. Very many, some whole colleges, were gotten by their fearful masters, the bishop and others, to suspend, who otherwise were resolved against the duke, and kept away with much indignation : and yet for all this stir, the duke carried it but by three votes from my lord Andover, whom we voluntarily set up against him, without any motion on his own behalf, yea without his knowledge. . . • • . We had |>ut one Dr. in the whole town durst, for so I dare speak, give with us against the duke What will the parliament say to us ? Did not our burgesses condemn the duke in their charge given up to the lords ? Pray God we hear well of it ; but the actors are as bold as lions, and I half believe would fain sufier that they might be advanced.*^^ Charles addressed to the uniicersity a public lettef of thanks for their obedience to his royal mandate, taking occasion at the same time to praise and vindicate the duke : the parlia- ment on the other band, highly incensed at such an insult up- on their proceedings, had entertained the design of visiting the principal actors with some marks of their displeasure, when they were interrupted by an admonition to forbear interfering in a matter which, as the king affirmed, lay entirely within bis royal cognizance. His majesty now thought proper again to urge the commons to pass their bill of subsidy with such speed as was required by the great preparations of the enemy, of which they had daily advertisements ; warning them as before that any de- lay beyond a day which he fixed would be taken by him as a refusal, and force him upon other resolutions. By way of re- tort, the commons presented a petition for the removal of all re- cusants, and even of sui^eoted papists and those whose wives and children were such, from all places of authority and gov- •c. Ellis's X.e<<er«,iu. 828. 100 ernment ; .sabjoiiiiDg a list of nmty-five noblemen and geir* tlemen against whom they particularly excepted ; at the head of which stood the earl of Rutland, father*in»law to the duke. They likewise directed their speaker to read to the king an answer to his letter, in which, in urgent indeed but respectful and affectionate language, they, on their parts, required the removal of Buckingham from the royal presence and coun- sels, as being, by his misrepresentations of their proceedings, the sole cause of the interruption and delay of the measures which they had designed for bis majesty's service. But noth- ing could move the stubborn spirit of Charles on a point which he had so completely identified with the assertion of his own authority as the protection of his hated minister, and he quickly announced to the upper house an immediate disso* lution of parliament Alarmed for the consequences of an act which must of necessity draw on the violation of every principle of constitutional government, the lords in an ear- nest petition implored him to lay aside this rash resolution, as the sole means of averting great and apparent dangers both at home and abroad, and of preserving to his majesty the af- fections of his subjects. They also sent a deputation to en- treat him to give audience to the whole house on this business, which was refused : and to their final supplication that he would at least suspend his resolution for a few days, he per- emptorily replied — ^* Not a minute !'*♦ The commons, assembling in haste, drew and voted a re^ monstrance, which the dissolution by commission on June 15th prevented them from delivering. Its leading topics were the misconduct of the duke, to whom the dissolution of this and the preceding parliament is ascribed, and the misconduct of those ministers by whose advice his majesty had been in- duced to levy the duties of tonnage and poundage without the grant of parliament But by for the most memorable passage is the following exposure of the remarkable circum- stances attending the apprebension of Digges and Eliot^ with which the parliament thus reproaches the king, under the constitutional form of making him acquainted! with the facts. "..... Porwheresas, by your majesty's warrant to your messengers for the arresting of them, you were pleased to command that they should repair to their lodgings and there take them ; your majesty's principal secretary the lord Con- way gave the messengers, as they afiirmed, an express com- * Sftunderaen's jB«%ii o/Kitig Ck&rieM^ p. 5S. 101 mandy contrary to the said warrants, that thej should not go to their lodgings, but to the house of commons, and there take them, and if they found them not there, they should stay until they were come into the house, and apprehend tkem wheresoever they should find them. Which, besides that it is contrary to your majesty's command, is an apparent testi- mony of some mischievous intentiop there had against the whole house of commons."* That the immediate intention of the king on this occasio& was rather to strike terror into the house by the manner of the arrest, than to secure the persons of the two members, appears certain from their immediate liberation on the fail- ure of this part of the scheme. — The prudence of the mes- sengers in obeying the terms of the warrant rather than the yerbal directions of the secretary, perhaps saved the nation at this time from the crisis which Charles's memorable at- tempt to seize the five members in the body of the house brought on several years later ; and the conformity of the two designs goes far to fix the contrivance in both cases on the king himself; since his confidential advisers were all changed in the interval. The parliament caused their remonstrance to be printed ; the king on the other side published a declaration in which be endeavored to throw from himself upon them the re- proach of impeding the public service ; he likewise issued a proclamation against the remonstrance, commanding, upon pain of his indignation and high displeasure, all persons of whatsoever quality possessing copies of the same to bum them, that it might be utterly foigotten, and " never give oc- casion to his majesty to renew the memory of that which out of his grace and goodness he would gladly forget** Such were the terms on which the youthful monarch part- ed with the second parliament of his reign ! *Rushworth,i.40S. Vol. I. 12 102 CHAPTER V. 16S6 to 16S8. AfhUranf measures.— Jikgai levy ef tonnage and poundage.— Loan. — Benevolence. — Composition with recusants. — €)onductof Charles as head of the church. — Influence of Laud. — Favor shown to 'Arminians. — (Opposite notions of Abbot and Laud respecting the church of Rome. — Government unpopular in church and state.— Dismissal of the queen's French servants.— Embassy of Bassompierre. — Buckingham the cause of war with France. — Bassompierre' s description of the English court. — A loan imposed by the council. — Gentlemen imprisoned for refus" ing to contribute. — Sir Thomas Wentworth. — Chief -Justice Crew displaced. — Abbot commanded to his country seat. — ifiF6- thorpe's sermon. — Catholics contribute to the loan. — Toleration of them in Ireland opposed by the bishops. — Loan-refusers d(^• nied their habeas corpus. — Expedition to the Isle of Rhi.-^Af" fectionate letters of Charles to Buckingham. — Necessity of cair Ung a parliament. — Liberation of state-prisoners. — Writs sent : to iVilliams^ Abbot and the earl of Bristol^ but no change in the king's designs. — Commission of excise. — IVoops and arms prepared in the Low Countries. THE strain of the royal deelaration setting forth the mo- tives of the late dissolution of parliament seemed to threaten m long discontinuance of these assemblies, and the people awaited in anxious suspense the results of the ** new coun- sels*' by which affairs were henceforth to be conducted. They were not long permitted to doubt either of the nature ^of these counsels or of the spirit in which it was designed to pursue them. The earl of Bristol, sir Dudley Digges, and sir John Eliot were immediately remanded to their illegal confinement, whilst a kind of mock proceeding was instituted against the duke of Buckingham in the Star-chamber for ir- regularly administering remedies to king James in his last illness ; but the charge was never permitted to come to a hearing. A false alarm of invasion was got up, and the king and council, on the plea of this pretended emergency, took authority to levy supplies on the people. It was oriered that the duties of tonnage and poundage should be paid in the 103 same manner as if they had been granted hj parliament ; loans were required in the king's name from the nobility and other men of property, and a particular one to the amount of 100,000/. from the city of London : the sea-ports and maritime counties were required to furnbh ships for the nayy; a benevolence, or free gift, was demanded from the people in general, equal in amount to the intended parliamentary sub- sidies, and a commission was granted to the archbishop of York and others to compound with the Roman catholics in the northern counties for ail acts of recusancy committed by them since the tenth year of king James, or which should be committed by them in future for any term not exceeding forty-one years; such compositions to be held good, any law or statute to the contrary notwithstanding, and the pro- duce to be applied to the naval defence of the kingdom. Commissions of muster and array were likewise issued to the lord lieutenants, with large powers, unwarranted by the con- stitution, of executing martial law in cage of ** invasions, in- surrections and riots." A defeat being at this time sustained by his majesty^s uncle and ally the king of Denmark, a fast- day was appointed, on which the clergy were required to ex- plain to their flocks the necessities and dangers of the state, and to enforce upon their eonsciences the pretended reUgiout duty of complying with the demands of their sovereign, though contrary to law. To secure the hierarchy as his ally, or accomplice, in rendering himself independent of the con- trol of parliaments, had indeed been from the 6rst a design labored by Charles with extreme assiduity, and it will be proper to point out the steps which he had already taken to- wards this end in his character of head of the church. Before the death of king James, bishop Laud had slready succeeded, by an assiduity and subserviency unexcelled by any of the lay parasites, in firmly fi»ng himself in the favor of Buckingham, and through him of the king. He was con- fltant in his attendance at court ; during the illness of Neil bishop of Durham he had officiated as clerk of the closet ; be served the duke in the capacity of confessor, and was em- ployed by him in many secret services ; and though but an aspirant as yet to the higher seats on the episcopal bench, he might already be regarded as filling the more important po- litical station of secretary for ecclesiastical affairs. In the first days of the reigh he had supplied the duke with a list of churchmen having the letters O and P, for orthodox and pu- ritan, affixed to their names, to serve the king as a guide in the 104 difltributioD of preferaient. He was likewise sent to inquire of bbbop Andrews^ ** what he would have done in the caase of the churchy" especialy with respect to the Calvinisttc arti- cles sanctioned bj the synod of Dort with the concurrence of king James's divines, commonly called '* the five articles/' But this mild and virtuous prelate discouraged^ as unseason* able and inexpedient, all those unpopular innovations, wheth- er in doctrine or discipline, which the impetuous Laud was on fire to begin. On the first agitation of the charges against Buckingham in tbe house of commons, the king, sending for all the bbhope, graciously reproved them because *' in this time of parliament they were silent in the cause of tbe church, and did not make known to him what might be useful or prejudicial to it;'' at the same time professing his readiness to promote its interests* Having thus conciliated the prelates, he enjoined them, in tbe causes depending between the duke of Buckingham and tbe earl of Bristol, ^* to follow their own consciences, and be led by proofs, not by reports^" meaning, no doubt, that they should not be influenced by that *' common fame" against tbe duke on which the house had grounded its proceedings. Some time afterwards. Laud had prevailed upon two other bishops to join himin the petition already mentioned, address- ed to tbe duke in favor of Montague, and although Charles and Buckingham found it expedient to withdraw from this furious partisan their open protection. Laud was permitted to give him a private assurance of the royal favor. From all these indications, it could not fail to be generally under- stood that Arminian principles in divinity, what have since bcea called high-church principles with respect to discipline^ rites and ceremonies, and in politics, the doctrines of pas- sive obedience and the divine right of kings, were hence- forth to be the indispensable passports to church preferment. Accordingly, the royal directions to preachers, by which they were prohibited from treating upon controverted points of theology, were understood as designed to be enforced against the Calvinistic party alone. The court bishops or the chap- lains, whose license for the publication of books, though re- quired by no law of the land, was now necessary to protect the authors from prosecution in the Starchamber, were care- ful to g^ve currency to all works in support of the fashionable lystem, and to suppress those on the contrary part; and Laud, a lofty asserter of the power of the church and of « divine right of bishops, the counterpart of that of kingv found- 105 Inglm schemes not no the maxims of the English constitution, bat on the Romish canons and the precedents of what he styled ** uncorrupt antiquitj/' began to announce that ecclesiastical discipline should henceforth be a thing felt as well as talked of; and that the high as well as the low, laity as well as clergy f should be taught to bow beneath its yoke. For the present however, the -enterprises of Laud found aome check from the opposition of archbishop Abbot, who took a very different view of protestant doctrine, and of the line of conduct which Jt became the Anglican church to pur- sue. This prelate, in common with most of the foreign pro- testants, traced the succession of the visible church of Christ •through the Berengarians and Albigenses to the Wickliffites and Hussites, and thence to the later reformers. Laud, on the contrary, traced it from the apostles through the church of Rome, and other churches of the South and East ; nor would he admit that there could be any true church without bishops. These opinions, maintained in a sermon preached before the university of Oxford, had drawn upon him, twenty years be- fore, a public censure, which Abbot, then vicechancellor, was believed to have prompted ; and this had been the foundation of a lasting enmity between the two polemics. Nor in fact was the dispute a trifling one, or void of practical application : on the question of apostolical succession, almost the whole eontroversy between the piesbyterian and prelatical, the Cal- vinistic and Arminian parties, might be made to hinge ; and the different modes of deciding it manifestly led to directly op- posite systems of ecclesiastical policy, both foreign and do- mestic. If the church of Rome were totally erroneous and antichristian, every approach towards it, all conformity or community with it, even in externals and things in their own nature indifferent, was to be regarded as odious and sinful ; and it became a duty to bear an unceasing testimony against it ; to wage with it a war of extermination. Thus the scru- ples of the puritans respecting ceremonies and vestments, the cross and the surplice, would become consistent and respecta- ble, and even their intolerance might appear justified ; and though the Anglican church should see fit as matter of expe- diency, to retain her own episcopacy, it would become her to stretch forth the right hand of fellowship to all the reformed churches without distinction, and to aid them by every possible exertion in making head against the common enemy, — the great popish confederacy of Europe. On the other hand, if the church of Rome, although erroneous and corrupt in cer- 106 tftin points, were still to be regarded as a true and mother church, it would follow, that in all matters either indifferent or undetermined, her example was to be respectfuUj con- sulted, nor was even her authority to be without special cause rejected. The decisions of her canonbts and the decrees of her councils must still be held in force ; even her traditions were entitled to regard ; and as the question was no longer between the kingdom of Christ and that of Antichrist, but be* tween a venerable though erring parent, and a daughter still affectionate though no longer implicitly obedient, schemes of mutual conciliation might be innocently, nay, meritoriously attempted, and might even yet succeed in producing an entire reunion, and closing up for ever the long and lamented schism of the British L»les. It is not surprising that with so avowed a deference for the church of Rome, Laud should in those days have pass- ed both with catholics and puritans for a concealed papist ; yet it is certain that he differed from this church in some points, both of doctrine and discipline, and the history of the* ol<^caI controversy has proved by numerous examples, that a narrow field of debate may be contested with full as much obstinacy as a wider one. On the other hand it may be ob« served, that the principle laid down by the illustrious Chilling- worth, that " the scripture is the only rule whereby to judge of controversies," would equally have excluded Laud from the name of protestant ; since he strenuously asserted the pow- er of judging in controversies of faith to reside in the church. The principles of Laud and his Arminians were very far from being acceptable to the English people, and the close alli- ance formed between a church tending, as it was suspected, to popery, and a king tending, as it was more than suspected, to arbitrary power, cast upon both a double weight of odium. Respecting the fast-day above mentioned, the biographer of Williams, after remarking by the way that none was ever en- joined against the appearance of the Armada, adds, that the *^ main scope" of it was, ^^ that great humiliation, with fasting and extraordinary prayer, should be joined together to avert the* peril of a Spanish invasion ; therefore that we, on the de- fensive, should be ready, with our bodies and purses, to avert the fury of our enemies." " Though," he adds, " the land was ad- monished of this in a religious way, yet they condescended to part with money very hardly. They did only hear of sin ene- my, but they saw their coin collected from them. ....... Say it was a wound to our great charter to call for contribu- 107 tion without a parliamentary way what we lost in the priyilege of liberty it was presumed we got in safety Bat the most did want that charitable presumption, and paid the irregular levy with their hand and not with their heart.''* Charles put in execution his meditated expulsion of the queen's French attendants in the summer of 1626. Her priests seemed to have filled the measure of their offences by the ab- surd and audacious act of causing the queen to walk to Ty- burn to peiform her devotions at the foot of the gallows on which father Garnet and other participators in the powder- plot had been executed as traitors, or, according to the phrase of the papists, had received the crown of martyrdom. A con- temporary letter, from Mr. John Pory, supplies some curious particulars of this transaction. *^ . . . . . On Monday last about noon, the king passing into the queen's side and finding some Frenchmen her servants unreverently dancing and curveting in her presence, took her by the hand and led her into bis lodgings, locking the door after him, and shutting out all, save only the queen. Presently upon this my lord Conway called forth the French bishop and others of that clergy into St. James's Park, where he told them the king's pleasure was, all her majesty's servants of that nation, men and women, young and old, should depart the kingdom, together with the reasons that enforced his majesty so to do. The bishop stood much up* on it, that being in the nature of an ambassador, he could not go unless the king his master should command him ; but he was told again, that the king his master had nothing to do here in England, and that if he were unwilling to go, England would find force enough to convey him hence. The bishop had as much reason to dance loth to depart as the king and all his well-affected subjects had to send him packing ; for he had as much power of conferring orders and dispensing sacraments, oaths, &c. as the pope could give, and so by con- sequence was a most dangerous instrument to work the pope's ends here. The king's message being thus delivered by my lord Conway, his lordship, accompanied with Mr. Treasurer and Mr. Comptroller, went into the queen's lodgings, and told all the French likewise that were there, that hb majesty's pleasure was, they should all depart thence to Somerset House, and remain there till they know further his majesty's pleasure. The women howled and lamented as if they bad * Lifi ofWiUUmu, part U. p. 79. 1U6 b^en going to execution, but all in vain, for the yeomen of the guard, by that lord's appointment, thrust them and all their countryfolka out of the queen's lodgings and locked the doors upon them. It is said also that the queen, when she un- derstood the design, grew very impatient, and brake the glass windows with her fist ; but since, I hear, her rage is appeased, and the king and she, since they went together to Nonsuch^ have been very jocund together. The same day, the French being all at Somerset House, the king, as I have heard some to afiirra, went thither, and made a speech to them to this purpose : That he hoped the king his good brother of France would not take amiss what he had done. For the French, he said, particular persons he would not tax, had occasioned many jars and discontents between the queen and him ; such indeed as longer were insufferable. He prayed them there- fore to pardon him if he sought his own ease and safety, and said moreover that he had given orders to his treasurer to reward every one of them for their year's service. So the next morning there was distributed among them eleven thou- sand pounds in money, and about twenty thousand pounds worth of jewels." The writer goes on to state as the ^^ satis* factory reasons" of this somewhat peremptory proceeding, ** the extravagant power of this French bishop," the super- stitions and turbulent spirit of these '* jesuited priests," and their intolerable insolencies towards the queen. After men* tioning the procession to Tyburn, he adds ; ** Had they not also made her dabble in the dirt in a foul morning from Som« erset House to St. James', her Luciferian confessor riding along by her in his coach 1 Tea, they have made her to go barefoot, to spin, to eat her meat out of treen dishes, to wait at the table and serve her own servants, with many other ridi« cttlous and absurd penances. .... Besides all this, letters from some of these French about her majesty are said to have been intercepted, by which it hath appeared that they have not only practiced with the pope on one side and the English catholics on the other side, hut have had intelligence also with the Spaniard. It was intended they should pres* ently have departed, but they are not yet gone Mean- while they took possession of all the queen's apparel and fi« nen which they found at Somerset House, as being their vales. but the queen having left her but one gown and two smocks to her Iwck, these IVench freebooters were intreated by some of the lords of the council to send her 109 majesty leme apparel, and to tbey tent her only one old latin gown, keeping all the residue to themsclveg.*** Shortly after the removal of the French from Whitehall to Somerset House, the kitig addressed to Buckingham the following characteristic order respecting them. " Steenie, " I have received your letter by Dick Graham, this is my answer. I command you to send all the French away to- morrow out of the town. If you can, by fair means, (but •tick not long in disputing,) otherwise force them away like 80 many wild beasts until ye have shipped them, and so the devil go with them. Let me hear no answer but the per« furmance of my command. So I rest, your faithful, constant, loving friend, "Charles R.** " Oakiog tlM 7th of Aagust 1 686." When, in consequence of this order, the royal officers at* tended upon the French with coaches and carts, they still con- tumaciously refused to depart u^til they should receive orders from their own king, and " above all the bishop stood upon his punctilios.*' Word being brought to the king of this con- duct, he dispatched to London ^' the captain of the guard at- tended with a competent number of his yeomen, as likewise with heralds, messengers and trumpeters, first to proclaim his majesty's pleasure at Somerset house gate ; whicn, if it were not speedily obeyed, the yeomen of the guard were to put it in execution, by turning all the French out of Somerset house head and shoulders, and shutting the gate after them. Which news as soon as the Fiench heard, their courage cam# down, and they yielded to be gone the next tide."t We may judge how many projects and intrigues were bra* ken by these prompt measures of the king, from the excessive indignation manifested by the French court. Carlton, now a peer, who had been dispatched to announce and justify to Louis and the queen-mother the expulsion from Whitehall, was ill-received ; Walter Montague, sent soon after to con- gratulate Monsieur and Madame on th^ir marriage, being ad- ditionally unwelcome as an instrument through whom th^ duke of Buckingham was believed to carry on his correspond dence with the French queen, was ordered to make the best of hi^ way back ; and marshal de Bassoinpierre was tbm commissioned to come and demand satisfaction of king « EUia's LMtUr$, voL iii. p. 8SS. 1 1^- f • ^^* Vol. I. 18 no Charles <ot hi« various infipactions of the ms^rriage-trealy. This ambassador was raet by the master of the ceremonies at Gratesendy and by the earl of Dorset with the king's barge near Greenwich ; but Charles, who had been with difficulty prevailed upon to show him these customary attentions, abso- lutely refused to lodge or defray him. Bassompierre himself has fortunately left us a copious nar- rative of his transactions in England, whence we derive some particulars strongly illustrative of the character of Charles, the influence of the duke, and the spirit of the French or catholic party.* Besides the ei^pulsion of tbe servants, the ambassador was instructed to urge the following grounds of eomplaint. That a churcli had not been built for tbe queen at St. James's ; and that, notwithstanding the secret article by which the king had promised that his Roman catholic sub- jects should not be molested either in person or property for their religion, or constrained to take any oath contrary to it^ ^* the most severe laws against catholics, established during the most violent persecutions 4ind since in a manner abolbhed, were renewed." These further grievances were added : That within a few days four protestant ladies ^f the bedcbara- ber had been placed about the queen ; namely the duchesa of Buckingham, the^marchioness of Hamilton, and tbe countesses of Denbigh and Carlisle ; also, that the lands set out for tbe queen's demesne were not of the stipulated vajne ; that the patents for them ** had not been registered in parliament, and that the queen had not been permitted to gratify English catholics by herself appointing " the officers of her demesne.** The king^ of France openly imputed these violations of faith to tbe duke of Buckingham, who had filled all the vacant offices in the queen's household with his own relations and friends, and he had the confidence to add ; that even should the French servants have offended, it would have been decent and friendly in his brother of England to have informed him of it, and have left to him the punishment of his own subjects ; but that, " thank God, he cannot find that they have been wanting in the least to the fidelity and devotedness which he had a right to expect of them." The queen-mother sent at the same time the sieur de la Barre to her daughter, to enjoin her to keep up her spirit, to •how openly the utmost eagerness to have the French back again, and covertly to evince her attachment to her friends in ♦ SeeBass^mpierre's '*Minunrei>^ and his "Jimhustadt^ paMim; » Ill Eaglaiid, and faer indignation against diose who bad distefvei her. He was also chained to encourage her sole remaining Frenchwoman in her fideBty, and to tell the queen that she pust abstain from confession in case no priest were left except* ing two,mentionc 1 by name, whom the French court distrusted. By command of the queen-mother, Bassompierre had likewise brought with him father Sancy, a priest so obnoxious, for some unknown reason, to Charles, that the ambassador, immediately on hid landing, was required to send him back again ;* he re- fused, on which account his audience was for some time delayed,-^ta}ked in a high and insolent tone of the priv- ileges of ambassadors, so recently violated in his ow^i Gourt by the dismissal of Montague, — and finally, gained the point by his pertinacity. When a first audience was to be granted him, the king stipulated, that as it was to be public, and in the queen's presence, there should be no mention of business, because he feared that she would burst into tears and make a scene, and that be might then be provoked to some unseemly violence of speech. Henrietta was freely per- mitted to see the ambassador in private, and he testifies that she was extremely well treated, that her court was very bril- liant, and that she would have nothing to complain of if she had only her priests again, and a few French people for her consolation. "She is," says he, "the best and prettiest prineesa in th« world, and one who, contrary to my expec tation, has no will of her own, referring herself on all points to that of the king her brother and the queen her mother. She told me, that knowing me for their good and faithful servant, and sent by them, she should appiove all I did, and would only aiot by my advice.'* Buckingham made great professions of his desire to recon- cile matters, notwithstanding the hatred borne him by the queen, the resentment manifested by the French court, and a sharp letter written him by the queen-mother. Bassom- pierre put no faith at first in his fair promises, because^ as he 'Says, he had entire power over the mind of the king, and jit he had neither prevented the expulsion of the French, nor procured their restoration. In the progress of the treaty ' however, he became convinced of the sincerity of the duke, to whom he persuaded the queen to reconcile herself, and he then anticipated no difficulties but from " the obstinate and perverse teniiper of the king himself." About vi fortnight after his arrival, he was admitted to a private/ audience which lasted nearly two hours, and 112 wai far from amicable. After beariBg all the complatDta and remonstrances of tbe ambassador, the king remarked, that he wondered he had not completed his errand by declar- ing war. Bassompierre replied, that he was not a herald to declare war, but a marshal of France to carry it on when it should be his master's pleasure ; but at present he wished to treat with his majesty as a brother. If that were the case, Charles rejoined, he ought to leave him in peace and freedom in his dVn house, where neither he nor any other had a rig^ht to interfere : that the religion of the queen was secured ; he should take no means, direct or indirect, to make her change it; and for the rest, he would not have his wife look to any one but himself for protection. That he had been com- pelled to send away her French attendants for their ifl behaviour, and the intrigues and monopolies which they car- ried on in his kingdom. That tbey diverted from him the af- fection of his queen, whom they constantly surrounded, pre- venting her from paying any attention to the English, discour- aging her from learning the language, and caumng her not to behave to him as she ought ; of which he had already sent repeated Information to her brother and her mo- ther. That now, since their departure, the queen his wife lived better with him, and he hoped that in future she would give him all manner of satisfaction ; he was resolved not to subject himself again to the evils from which he had escaped, and the king his good brother ought not to urge him to it. He bad given the queen a train suited to her rank, and would treat her as a queen, but he would have her behave herself to him as she ought, and show him the respect and obedience . of a wife. With regard to the treatment of the catholics, he said, that the proceedings of the French servants had caused their present evils, an d overcome his previouGf wish and inten- tion of leaving them at peace ; which it was however his in- tention to do in future, as far as he could without prejudice to his own affairs and those of the state. It can scarcely be denied, that in all this matter Charl^ had substantially reason and justice on his side, although»|pis manner might be somewhat more harsh, bis expressions less conciliating, than the circumstances required ; yet Bassom- pierre wrote home, that he was soi:ry his instructions did not warrant him to quit England immediately on receiving so peremptory an answer. The council, to which the king re- ierred him, remained laudably firm to the maxim of granting Mthing to the catholici through the mediation of tbe king of lis France ; but held out promises of more indulj^ence towards thero provided the queen would ask it of the king ; they also thought fit to intimate, that she would obtain most of her wishes by employing the duke, and seeking favors from the king's goodness alone. Two of the French demands, that the queen should have a bishop in her service, and that some of her priests should be regulars, were strenuously resisted by the En- glbh council ; at length if was set^ed, by way of compromise, that her priests should all be seculars excepting her confessor and his companion, who had not been expelled, and who were fathers of the Oratory, and that her bishop should confine bis functions to the queen's household, and not confer orders, or perform other episcopal acts iuEngland. The earl of Carlisle whom Bassompierre represents as a great puritan and very subtle in his religion, long contested these points, and also de- manded that the king should have the choice of the priests, in order that he might select those of the Gallican rather than of the Ultramontane school ; but the ambassador was warm on the last article, and carried it. He yielded the appointment of a French master of the horse, because the queen was content to retain Henry Percy in this post, he being brother to lady ' Carlisle " who governed the queen very much." The num- ber of French servants and officers receiving salaries was one hundred and six, but of followers and hangers-on of one kind or other there were nearly twice as many more, so that the whole number expelled was little short of three hundred. The king adhered inflexibly to his resolution of not suffering a single individual of these to return ; excepting Chartier the physician ; but he consented that forty^six persons, male and female, should be sent over in their stead ; and with this con- cession the French court consented to be appeased. These matters being arranged, and some remaining disputes concerning mutual captures of ships being referred to the am- bassador in ordinary, Bassompierre took his leave ; and he was already at Dover, waiting for a fair wind, when Bucking- ham sent to entreat him to return in order to confer with him at Canterbury. In this meeting, the duke mentioned certain detentions of English ships in the French ports, and represent- ed the affair as of so much consequence that on this sole ac- count, as he said, he had accepted the appointment of am- bassador extraordinary to France, and would return with Bassompierre. The marshal frankly replied, that he could not approve his projects, and that it would not be agreeable to bis king ; and he spent the evening in persuading him to give 114 up^ or at least postpone, his journey. Buckingham at length agreed to defer his departure till the ambassador could write to his court : he wrote, and received in answer positive orders from his master to impede the duke^s design even, if necessa- ry, by plainly informing him that after what had passed, he could not go without the French king's permission ; but, if possible, to^put him off civillJ^, as a minister favourable to France and to catholics, and totally opposed to the puritans. Bassompierre accordingly wrote a polite letter requesting him to defer his mission fill all disputes should be concluded, and offering to procure the immediate release of the English ships if Buckingham, on his part, would interpose for the liberation of some French ones. It was almost immediately upon this check to the favorite that Charles declared war against France. In the royal manifesto published on this occasion, there was actually mentioned among the causes of war, Louis^ employment of the English ships lent to him, agamst theHu- gonots of La Rochelle ; an act to which it is in proof that both Buckingham and his master were consenting, and even in- strumentaL But it was thought expedient to make this ab* lation to the proiestant prejudices of the English people ; and the French sovereign, apparently respecting the mysteries of king-craft even in an enemy, was content to excuse him- self on this head by the ^^ necessity of his affairs." The following trait is given by Bassompierre of what he just- ly calls "the boldness, or rather impudence," of Bucking- ham. At his first private interview with Charles, who, as he says, put himself in a great passion, and to whom he replied with spirit; at the moment when both parties were most heated, the duke ran up and threw himself between them, crying out, ** 1 am come to keep the peace between you two !" On this strange interruption, the ambassador took off his hat, to iiiitimate that he regarded the audience ais at an end. He was witness to several quarrels between the king and the queen, in which he thought her so much in the wrong, that on one occasion he threatened her that he would return without con- cluding the business, and inform her brother and mother that the fault was hers. Qp Lord-mayor*s day, the queen, after viewing the water- procession from Somerset-house, took Bassompierre in the coach with her into Cheapstde, to see the ceremony, which, he says, is the greatest which takes place at the reception of any officer in the world. Afterwards he went to walk in Moorfields, then newly planted and laid out, and a fashion- 116 able place of resort even for the nobility. Himself the mir- ror of magnificenGe at home, the admiration which be ex- presses of the splendor and gaiety of the English court is a testimony of great we%ht. He mentions several exceedingly handsome entertainments given to himself by different per- sons of rank, but one at which he was present, given by Buckingham to the king and queen at York House, was, he confesses, the most magnificent banquet he ever saw in his life. The table at which he supped with the king and queen, waited upon by the duke himseU* and the earls of Holland aad Carlisle, " was served by a complete ballet at every course,'* with music and changes- of scenery, and various representa- tions. After supper they were led into another apartment, where there was a splendid mask in which the duke danced ; afterwards there were country-dances, till four in the morn- ing, then a collation. The king and queen slept in the house, and the next day the queen had music, and the king ordered a ball and a play, after which they returned to White- hall. Charles sent the ambassador at his departure a rich present of diamonds, for his anger had now coojed, and he probably regarded Bassompierre, and with reason, as the most sound and moderate of all Henrietta's French counsel- lors. The prospect of a new war, added to the reverses sustain- ed in Germany, occasioned fresh demands upon the treasury, and there was now no mercy for those who offered any resist- ance to tho new measures. A general loan having been agreed upon in the council instead of the benevolence, which had proved unproductive, the most odious means were adopted for enforcing compliance. Soldiers were billeted on private persons by way of punishment for their re- fractoriness, and the commissioners for the levy of the im- position received the following among other instructions : That they should treat apart with those who were to lend, and not in the presence of others, — that if any should refuse to lend, or mdke delays or excuses, they should exa- mine them an oath whether they had been " dealt withal" to refuse, by whom, and what speeches had been used tend- ing to such purpose ? They were also fo charge such per- sons in his majesty's name not to disclose what their answer had been ; ^^ That they endeavor to discover whether any, publicly or underhand, be workers or persuaders of others to dissent from this course, or hinder the good disposition of others ; and that as much as they may, they hmder all dis- 1 1« course about it ; aad ccrtifj'to the privy council ia writings the names, qualities, and dwelling-places of such refractory persons with all speed, and especially if they shall discover any combination or confederacy against these proceedings.'' Thus was a political Inquisition, with all its detestable appara- tus of secret examinations, arbitrary oaths, and private accu- sations, suddenly established throughout the kingdom ! But there were many minds in which the character of these pro- ceedings excited anger oc contempt rather than terror. Nu- merous knights and gentlemen in various parts of the coun- try, of whom Mr. Hampden was one, refused to lend their money, and were in consequence committed to close custody, often in the common gaols, and sometimes in distant counties ; sir Peter Hayman, on the same account, was sent on an er- rand to the Palatinate, and persons of inferior rank were pressed for foreign service either in the army or navy. Sir John Eliot, from the Gatehouse prison, addressed to Charles a well-drawn petition setting forth the statutes by which it was declared unlawful for the king to impose taxes by his own authority, and criminal in the subject to pay them, and pleading conscience for his refusal ; but without avail. ^ Sir Thomas Wentworth, having been, after a feigned re- conciliation, deprived by Buckingham in the most public and offensive manner of the office of cuttoi rotuhrum for Yorkshire, finding his humblest submissions, tendered through his friend sir Richard Weston, ineffectual to procure his restoration, conceived that an imposing show of patriotic opposition would now best serve the interests of his ambition ; and having pe- remptorily refused his contribution, he assumed the attitude of a man prepared to stand all consequences. Being sum- moned before the privy council, he there justified his conduct, and was in consequence, in May 1627, committed to the Mar- shalsea, where he remained six weeks, after which he was banished to Dartford in Kent, and ordered to confine himself within that town and a space of two miles round it ; under which restraint he continued till the ensuing Christmas. On the first rumor of his collision with the court, several of his friends, by whom his designs and plan of action seem to have been but imperfectly understood, began eagerly to ply him with their prudential counsels ; and the oourt intelligence on which they grounded the opinions expressed in their letters will often be found curious and interesting. Lord Clifford, his brother-in-law, writes thus on April SOth, 1627 : — " This night your friends have thought fit to give you thia . nr speedy advertiiement that the •treatn runs daily strong'er and stronger against the refusers, and this day the gentlemen of Lincoln-shire are all committed to the prisons here] in Lon<* don, and those which have remained so long imprisoned are to be sent to private houses severally, into several shires, most remote from their own country, without so much as liber- ty to go to church. And every man here that loves you, wish you may not run so great a hazard both of your life and fortune. The letters I hear are gone to the commissioners to receive your answer, and therefore we that wish you would give, do wish you would do it readily and freely at their motion. But if you cannot be persuaded thereunto, then, for my part, I would have you desire the commissioners to give you leave to give your answer here in person before the lords, engaging your word unto them to come up presently ; which we would have you do with all speed. My dear brother, how perplexed I am about this particular, these ragged lines can partly witness. . .... Accept them, I pray you, as the pre- sent of a faithful and affectionate heart, which affects nothing more than your safety and happiness : For which that you *may provide in time, I have expressly sent this bearer by post.''* Lord Haughton, also a brother-in-law, writes to him as fol- lows on May 19, 1627. "...... It was supposed this humour of committing had been spent, till your antagonist did revive it ; who, I hear, brags he hath you in a toil or dilemma ; if you refuse you shall run the fortune of the other delinquents, if you come in at the last hour into the vineyard, be hopes it will lessen you in the country. Sir Harbottle Grimstone of Essex was laid up last week ; his neighbors of Chelmsford, the six poor tradesmen, stand out stiflSy, notwithstanding the many threats and promises made them ; which made ona say, that honor, that did use to reside in the head, was now, like the gout, got into the foot. . Some of the judges stagger, and incline to pressing them, but Hyde, the late chief justice, will rather quit his minivers than subscribe to it. **.,.... The duke's going so often adjourned, makes men suspect he will not stir at all : And I heard from a good band he moved the king to that purpose, who would not con* sent unto it, saying his honor was engaged, the eyes of the * fitrpjford Littertt i. S6. Vol. L 14 IIS kingdom were upon him ; whereupon his grace grew melan* cboly. " Middlesex hath now his quietus eat ; the other day kissed the king's hand, and was used so graciously that the treasurer is afraid of himself. Not one of the refractory lords is come in, though generally said Northumberland bad yielded, but nothing so. The lords are ill troubled with the Irish, who being commanded to defray 5000 foot and 500 horse, through the whole country have generally refused, and the sheriffs also to serve any writs upon the refusers : This paper will tell you of a toleration intended and rejected there."* Lord Clifford in a subsequent letter earnestly exhorting Wentworth to compliance, has the following strong exprea- sions : *^ My dear brother, I cannot hope to see you receive the least favor that the great ones can abridge you of, if you still refuse ; neither dare any move the king in the behalf of any gentleman refuser ; for his heart is so inflamed in this business, as he vows a perpetual remembrance as well as a present punishment. And though the duke will be gone shortly, yet no man can expect to receive any ease by his ab- sence, since the king takes the punishment into his own direc- tion.»t It is worthy of remark that chief justice sir Randal Crew had already been dismissed from his office as not sufficiently favorable to the loan ; and that sir Nicholas Hyde who had succeeded him is mentioned by his own nephew lord Clareii<r don as one who having been promoted " from a private prac- tiser of the law to the supreme judicatory in it, by the power and recommendation of the great favorite, of whose private counsel he had been, — was exposed to much envy and some prejudice ;"| and yet, it seems, even his instrumentality was not without difficulty obtained ; so thoroughly illegal were these proceedings. The benchers of Lincoln's inn received, to their honor, a letter of reproof from the council, for " neglecting to'advance the service in their society," and to return the names of the refractory. The church might also boast of one confes- sor in the cause of the constitution, and he of no less em- inence than Abbot archbishop of Canterbury, Laud had now fully succeeded in communicating to the all-powerful favorite his own- animosity against this zealous and popular prelate* ' *8iriffordLeiitra,i.%7. f iHd. i. 88. I Life of Edward ead of Clm'indm, p. 3. 119 ancl the opportunity to roin or disgrace him, which had long been sought, offered itself on the following occasion. One Sibthorp, an obscure but aspiring clergyman, had ingratiated himself with the ruling party by an assize-sermon preached ai Northampton, in which he had maintained the unlimited nature of regal power, and asserted the right of the sovereign both to make laws and levy contributions by his own authori- ty ; the subject being bound, under pain of everlasting perdi- tion, to afford an active obedience in all things not contrary to the laws of God and nature; a passive obedience in all cases. This sermon was sent to the archbishop by a gentle- man of the bedchamber with a message from the king himself that it was his pleasure it should be licensed to the press. The primate pleaded that it was the business of his chaplains ; but being informed that it wa» required of him to give this piece bis own attention, he took it to read, and then returned a con- scientious refusal to give it his sanction. To repeated and UT^ent requisitions to the same effect he remained inflexible ; till at length Charles was provoked to command him to banish himself to one of bis seats in Kent, and to issue a commission to four bishops, Laud being one, for the exercise of archiepis* copal jurisdiction in his stead* ; and all this without law, with- out form of process, without even an accusation brought against him ! Sibthorp's sermon was next carried to Worral, one of the chaplains of Laud, now become bishop of London, who has- tily signed the imprimatur, but, alarmed at what he had done, ran immediately to beg the advice of Selden. Having read the piece, this eminent lawyer aiid patriot, pruflently avoiding to commit his opinion to paper, sent for Worral and addressed him to this effect. " What have you done ? You have al- lowed a strange book ; which, if it be true, there is no meum or tuum, no man in England hath any thing of his own. If ever the tide turn and matters be called to a reckoning, you will be hanged for such a book. You must scrape out your name, and not suffer so much as the sign of any letter to re- main.** The chaplain took the sound advice, but his less wary diocesan signed the imprimatur without hesitation ; — on points like these. Laud was visited with neither fears nor scruples. f ,. , i The English catholics at this time excited peculiar jealoasy in the popular party by their cheerful and liberal contributions ♦wJW»r«JV«rra«t»«inRnahworth, i..440. f R««*»V«rth, i. 44«. 120 to the loftn, suspected to be the fruk of a secret uoderstand- ing, that the king, by bis own authority and in contrayention of bis repeated promises to parliament, would suspend the operation of the penal laws. In Irelai|d, where a great majority of the inhabitants still adhered to the old religioa, they judged themselves strong enough openly to demand a re- dress of their most pressing grievances, civil and religious, as the price of those supplies which they knew to be indispensa- bie to their sovereign. The maintenance of a body of troops by the country had there been firmly resisted, as we have seen, until the king had sanctioned by his own assent and promised to assemble a parliament in Ireland for the purpose of ratifying, certain gracesy as they were called, which might be regarded as a charter of emancipation to that unhappy people* By some of these the country was to be relieved from various oppressions in civil, judicial and commercial matters ; by another, all inquiries into defective titles to lands on the part of the crown, which had hitherto been carried oa without regardito any length of prescription, were to be re- f^ricted to a retrospection of sixty years ; by another, catho- lic land-owners were to be admitted to sue out their liveries without taking the oath of abjuration, — and by another of still greater importance, the rites of the Roman catholic war- ship were to be admitted to a free toleration. The last arti- cle instantly roused the fears and the zeal of the protestant hierarchy, and twelve Irish bishops, with- their learned pri- mate Usher at their bead, met and signed a protestation, that the religion of the papists being '* superstitious and idola- trous, their faith and doctrine erroneous and heretical, their church in respect of both apostatical,'^ to grant them a tole- ration was " a grievous sin," and to do so for money, was '* to set religion to sale." This opposition, in which the protestant laity appear to have bad concurred, had other motives besides those suggested by religious bigotry, which it was judged politic to make the c»- tensible ones. The voluntary contribution which was to pur- chase the gracesy and to which protestants were to be equally assessed with catholics, was no less offensive to the patriots of Ireland than the loan to those of England ; being equally a mode of enabling the king to raise money without the assist- ance of a parliament, which it was clearly perceived that nothing but pecuaiary distress would ever induce him to con- voke. The conduct of Charles on the occasion was highly characteristic. 'H« violated his word to the catholics by sub- 121 stilttting a bare counivance, which left them still at his mercy, for* the stipulated toleration; and being inwardly resolved neither to set limits to the searches into defective titles re- garded by himself jind his courtiers as a mine of unexhausted treasure, not to permit the assembling of an Irish house of commons, he availed himself of a perhaps not undesigned ir- regularity in the writ of stiinmons issued by lord-deputy Falkland, which might have been speedily and easily rem<* edied, to defer indefinitely the meeting of parliament solemnly promised to the Irish nation, and expected both by catholics and protestants with extreme anxiety. Meantime the con- tribution foi the maintenance of the army continued to be levied. In November 1627 five of the knights who had been im- prisoned for refusing the loan, all persons of fortune and dis- tinction, resolved to bring their cause to an issue by suing out a writ of habeas corpus in the king's bench. Stripped of tech- nical forms, the question to be decided on this occasion was no other than the following. Whether English judges would interpose, acccording to the law and their duty, to liberate persons detained, without any specific charge, '^ by the king's special command ;" or whether, through their iniquitous and base subserviency, the ancient charters of the land were to be virtually abolished, and the personal liberty of every subject was henceforth to tie at the mercy of an arbitrary prince. The cause of the prisoners, or rather of the English people, was pleaded by lawyers of great eminence, for Noy and Sel- den were of the number. Selden laid it down, " that by the constant and settled laws of this kingdom, without which w6 have nothing, no man can be justly imprisoned, either by the king or council, without a cause of the commitment, and that ought to be expressed in the return." " This right," said Serjeant Branston, ^' is ,the only means that a subject hath whereby to obtain his liberty ; and the end 43f it is to return the cause of the imprisonment, that it may be examined in the court whether the parties ought to be discharged or not : Which cannot be done upon this return ; for the cause of the imprisonment is so far from appearing particularly by it, that there is no cause at all expressed the cause ought to be expressed so far that it ought to be none of those causes for which, by the laws of the kingdom, the subject ought not to be imprisoned. For observe but the consequence : If those gentlemen who are committed without any cause shown, should not be bailed but remanded, the subjects of the king- 12S dom may be restramed of their libert j fop ever, and by law there can be no remedy.** " If upon a habea$ carpus a cause- of commitment be signified, then," said Mr. Noy, "the cause is to be tried before your lordships ; but if no cause be shown, the court must do that which siandeth with law and justice, and that is to deliver the party." Notwithstanding these and other arguments of irrefragable cogency, chief-^justice Hyde, now victor over all his scruples, dared to pronounce, for himself and his brother judges, Dod* deridge, Jones and Wbitelock^ a judgment which, by deny- ing either liberation or bail to the prisoners, closed all the doors of justice against them, and held out to them as their sole hope of deliverance from perpetual incarceration, the laercy of the tyrannical prince whom their just resistance had offended. Having thus, as they fondly hoped, crushed all opposition at home by the stroiig arm of power, Charles and his minister prepared to exhibit their talents in the conduct of a war with France. The prince of Soubize, a hugonot leader of the house of Rohan, was received with high favor at the English court, and through his influence it was hoped that the people of La Rochelle, forgetful of recent injuries, might be brought to cooperate with a powerful armament prepared for a descent on the French coast. Buckingham, who had arrogated to himself the chief command by land as well as sea, being in both services equally and totally ignorant and inexperienced, urged on the preparations with characteristic impetuosity: and a considerable fleet being assembled, with a body of 7000 men on board, he embarked at Portsmouth In July 1627, and appeared before La Rochelle. The inhabitants however were neither prepared nor inclined to admit him, and finding himself disappointed in this quaiter, he landed on the Isle <^ Rhe, where there was no force capable of withstanding him. From a want of skill or promptitude, he allowed the governor to provision a fort which held out against him till the month of November, though he had at first written to assure the king that he should be master of it in a week. A lar^ French force then advancing to relieve it, Buckingham, after several pernicious fluctuations of purpose, commenced a retreat, which was conducted with such precipitation and want of judgment, on broken ground, over a narrow causey, and amid salt pans and marshes, that the loss of a battle could scarcely have been more fatal. " The retreat," says Clarendon em- phatically, ^' had been a rout without an enemy, and the 133 French bad their revenge by the disorder and confusion of the English themselves ; in wJiich great numbers, both of noble and ignoble, were crowded to death, or drowned with- out the help of an enemy : and as some thousands of the common men were wanting, so few of those principal officers who attained to a name in war, and by whose courage and experience any war was to be conducted, could be found." A general consternation over the whole kingdom was the result of this disaster ; mutinies broke out in the fleet and ar- my on pretext of want of pay, " but in truth, out of detesta- tion of the service and the authority of the duke." The coun- ties refused to suffer the troops to be billeted upon them. The illegal practice of pressing recruits for the iirmy found oppo- sition in many places. ^'This produced a resort to martial law, by which many were executed ; which raised, an aspe- rity in the minds of more than the common people."* The military character of the nation was low at this period, and several of the creatures of Buckingham, more conversant in courts than camps, incurred severe reproach : " For here in England," says a memorialist, '^ the earl of Holland trifled away the time in which he should have brought new supplies of men, victuals and shipping unto the duke, and was found in harbour at Portsmouth, when be should have been found a month before in the bay at Rochelle ; and here his bmther Mountjoy, afterward earl of Newport, and the lord Conway, then sir Edward, who with the horse were to make the retreat, to say no more, fell under great suspicion."! Concerning the degree of personal courage exhibited by the duke in this unhappy expedition, we have contradictory reports which it is not worth while to balance ; his general conduct was com- mended by no one excepting his infatuated master, and the instruments whose express charge it was to keep up h^ gross delusion. The letters written by Charles to Buckingham during bis absence, taken without reference to the merits of him to whom they were addressed, deserve a place among the most pleasing records of royal friendship. In perusing them we are irresbtibly impressed with the unhappiness of princes who, precluded by their station almost from the possibility of forming just estimates of men and things, can scarcely give way to the best and sweetest a£fections of the human heart * HUL rf RebtUwn, book i. t Warwick's Memoirs, p. 27. 1S4 without peril to themselves and mischief to their people. The following are a few of the most remarkable passag-es. *^ I [write] rather to assure you that upon all occasions I am glad to remember you, and that no distance of place, nor length of time can make me slacken, much less diminish, m j love to yoD, than that I have any business to advertise you of. I know too that this is nothing, it being nothing but what you know already ; yet imagining that we, like usurers, love some- times to look upon our riches, I think it is not unacceptable to you to bid yon look of that that I esteem to be to the greatest richeSy and now hardest to be found, true friendship ; there being no style justlier to be given to any man than that to me of being, your faithful" &c. " It rejoices me not a little to hear [Dalbier] being a stran- ger and a soldier, give so just a description of your disposi- tion, which I know to be true ; that making me believe the rest he says concerning your proficiency in the trade you have now so happily begun, which though 1 never doubted, vet I am glad to see that truth forces all men to approve my judgment of you Only I must chide you if it be true that I hear, that you hazard yourself too boldly. This I must command you to mind and take care of ; there being more inconvenience in it than I almost dare write, or fit for you to hear ; but it is enough that you are willed to preserve yourself for his sake that is, and ever shall be, your lov- ing** &c. The king gave his personal attention to the care of send- ing Holland with supplies and reinforcements to the array, and he often apologizes for tardiness in this affair as proceed- ing from the embarrassments of the times, and by no means from any slackness in hrmself, — and perhaps the earl of Hol- land's conduct might claim the benefit of the same excuse. *^ Be not disheartened with our by-past slowness ; for, by the grace of God, it is all past. This I say, not that I fear thy constant, stout heart can slack in an honest cause, but that some rascal may cast doubts in the army as if I neglected you ; which I imagine is likely enough to fall out, since some villains here fltfck not to divulge it. And it is possible that those who were the cause of your consultation of leaving the siege and coming home (for the resisting of which I give thee a thousand thanks) may mutter such things. Now I pray God but to prosper me as I shall stick to thee on all occa- sions, and in this action as I shall show myself your lov- ing" tc. 125 The Danish ambassadors bad endeavoured to mediate a peace between France and England, and had desired that powers-to treat should be sent to the duke, which Charles says he would not grant, but adds» ** Now, honest rascal, though I refused, being demanded, to send »thee powers to treat, yet thou, knowing my well-grounded confidence of thee^ mayest easily judge the warrant-dormant power thoa bast in this, as in any thing else where confidence may be i placed on any man : but for fear thy modesty in this paiticu- ar might hinder thee to remember thy power of trust, which 1 have given thee, I thought not amiss to write as I have writ* ten.** * On receiving an intimation to prepare his mind for the prd« bable abandonment of the enterprise, we find it the king's first care to console and encourage the unsuccessful general : ** This is therefore to give you power, in case ye should ima- gine that ye have not enough already, to put in execution any of those designs ye mentioned to Jack Epslie, or any other that ye shall like of. So that I freely leave it to your will whe- ther after your landing in England ye will set forth again to some design, before you come fiither ; or else that ye will finrt come to aSk toy advice before ye undertake a new work j assuring you that with whatsomever success ye shall come to me, ye shall be ever welcome ; one of my greatest griefs being that I have not been with you in this time of sufiering, for 1 know we would have much eased each other's griefs. .... To conclude, you cannot come so soon as ye are wel- come ; and unfeign^dly, in my mind, ye have gained as much reputation, with wise and honest men, in this action, as if ye had performed all your desires. I have no more to say at this time, but conjure thee, for my sake; to have a care of thy health. Even after the calamitous retreat, the blinded king sends Endymion Porter to Portsmouth, "to assure you our misfortune has been not to «end you supplies in time, that all honest men cannot but judge that you have done past expec- tation, and if a man may say it, beyond possibility.** One or two passages show the indiscreet and excessive openness with which he imparted to Buckingham the state of his conjugal feelings. ** I cannot omit to tell you that my wife and I were never better together ; she upon this action of yours showing herself so loving to me, by her discretion upon ail occasions, that it makes us all wonder, and esteem lier." And again, after the return of the duke to England : "I have sent you here inclosed a letter to my vrife, in answer to Vol. I. 15 136 ono that Lodowic brought me, which was only a dry ceremo- nious cornpliment, ana answered accordingly ; by which I see that my last deni j[l is not digested yet ; which you would do well to find out of yourself, (without taking notice of any knowledge from me,) to set her in tune against my returning to London ; for if I shall find her reserved, froward, or not kind at my return, we shall not agree ; which I am sure can* not fall out between you and your loving"* &c. Steadfastness in his attachments, or, as it might perhaps be called, persistence in his own judgment of characters, was in fact one of the qualities on which Charles prided himself the most ; and as his haughty temper and despotic principles led him to regard his ministers in the light of personal attend- ants, household counselors and assistants, and by no means as responsible servants of the people, he was ever prone to pledge himself to their protection in all, and against all. Thus Laud has recorded in his 'diary, that having been alarmed at the report of a murmur, that in consequence of the failure at the Isle of Rh6 a parliament must be called, in which some must be sacrificed, and himself as likely as any, he repeated it to the king, whose answer was ; '^ Let me de- sire you not to trouble yourself with any reports till you see me forsake mj other friends." The necessity of bis affairs, however, compelled him to as- semble a council, in which sir Robert Cotton, being expressly called upon for his sentiments, gave an opinion in favor of calling a parliament, backed by arguments so cogent, drawn from the ill state of almost every department of administration, that the measure was adopted, and writs issued for its meeting on March 17th, 1628. Meantime it was judged expedient to mollify the spirits of the people by liberating Digges and Eliot, and also the knights, gentlemen, and London citizens, to the number of seventy-eight, who were under confinement or re- straint for resisting the loan ; a large proportion of the chief of whom, as confessors in the cause of the constitution, were immediately elected to seats in the house of commons. Arch- bishop Abbot, bishop Williams, and the earl of Bristol also re- ceived their writs of summons, and the honor of these coun- sels was studiously ascribed to the duke of Buckingham. But Charles, equally unfitted by ternper and by system for pursu- ing the policy of a constitutional ruler, could not refrain from blending with these conciliatory measures, others of a diamet- * Mitcd, SktU Poftrk, iL 14. 9i seq. 127 rically opposite character. A commission was issued to seve- ral privy counsellors and others to consider of modes of rais- ing money ^* wherein form and circumstance must be dispens- ed with, rather than the substance be lost ;" and the projects of a general excise, and of ship-money, had, in consequence, been debated in the council, though the execution was for the present suspended. What was still more alarming, not only the troops returned from foreign service were still kept on foot and quartered in private houses, evidently for the purpose of quelling the spirit of the people, but secret orders, accompa- nied by the sum of 30,0001., had been transmitted by the king to sir William Balfour and colonel Dalbier in the Low Coun- tries, for the levy of 1000 German horse and the purchase of above 1 0,000 stand of arms, to be immediately transported to England ; transactions which could not be kept so secret as notupeedily to become the subjects of parliamentary animad- version. 198 CHAPTER VI. 162a Parliament opmed, — Haughty speech of ike ktng.-^GrievanceM opened by Seymour >» Philips and others, — Vain ejforts of secre* tary Cook to carry the hinges, measures. — Petition of right put in preparation. — Judges called in question for denial of habeas corpus. — Petition against recusants assented to. — Supplies de- ferred, grievances proceeded with. — Offensive interposition of Buckingham. — Conference between the two houses on liberty of persons. — Billeting of soldiers and martial law debated. — At^ tempts of the king to baffle the petition of right. — Amendment of the peers rgected. — The bill passes both houses. — Complaint of the commons against Manwaring. — King^s evasive answer to the petition of right. — Remarks^ — Indignation of the commons. — Dissolution threatened. — Pathetic scene in the house of com- mons. — King passes the bill. — Commons vote the subsidies. — Complaints against Buckingham. — Dr. Lamb beaten to death. —"Remonstrance prepared by the * commons.^-rParliament pro- rogued in anger % PARLIAMENT was opened on March 17th by the king in person, with a speech in which menace and the expression of offended pride were stiil unhappily predominant over the tone of conciliation which experience as well as reason might by this time have taught him to employ. " These times,*' said the iTvonarch, " are for action, wherefore, for example's sake, I mean not to spend much time in words ; expecting that your, as I hope, good resolutions, will be speedy, not spending time unnecessarily, or that I may better say, dangerously .... I think there is none here but knows, that common danger is the cause of this parhament, and that supply is at this time the chief end of it. . . . I therefore, judging a parliament lo be the ancient, speediest and best way, in this time of common danger, to give such supply as to secure ourselves, and to save our friends from imminent ruin, have called you together. Every man must now do according to his conscience : Where- fore if you as God forbid, should not do your duties in con- tnbuting what the state at this time needs, I must, in discharge 129 of my conscience, ase -those oiber means which God hath put into my bands, to save that which the follies of particular men may otherwise hazard to lose. Take not this as a threaten- ing, for r scorn to threaten any but my equals ; but an admo- nition from bim that both out of nature and duty hath most care of your preserraiibns and prosperities. And though I thus speak, I hope that your demeanors at this time will be such, as shall not only make me approve your former coun- sels, but lay on me such obligations as shall tie me by way of thankfulness to meet often with you. You may imagine that I came here with a doubt of success of what I desire, re- membering the distractions of the last meeting : But I assure you that I shall very easily and gladly forget and foigive what b past, so that you will at this present time leave the former ways of distractions.*' This harangue gave extreme offence, alike by its style and ita matter ; it was plain that no redress of grievances was pre- poeed in return for the j;upplies thus imperiously demanded ; and after all the recent acts of oppi'ession perpetrated by royal authority, it might be thought that it was not the part of the king to offer pardon and oblivion as a boon. Lord keeper Coventry pronounced a speech neariy to the same effect, which he concluded by warning the two houses that if the parliamentary way of supply were delayed, '* necessity and the, sword of the enemy make way to the others." " Re- member,'' he emphatically added, *^his majesty's admonition^ I say remember it !" . The house of commons, undismayed, though by no means unmoved, by these menaces, immediately formed its commit- tees for religion, for grievances and for trade, and then pro- ceeded to debate on the late invasions of law and liberty ; when Sir Francis Seymour thus gave utterance to the gener- al feeling. " How can we express our affection while we re- tain our fears, or speak of giving till we know whether we have any thing to give ? For if his majesty may be persuad- ed to take what he will, what need we give 1 That this hath been done, appearetb by the billeting of soldiers the imprisonment of gentlemen for refusal of the loan ; who if they had done the contrary for fear, their faults would have been as great as theirs who were the projectors of it. To countenance these proceedings, hath it not been preached in the pulpit, or rather prated ; all we have is the king's, jure A'- fmo i When preachers forsake their own calling and turn 130 ignorant statesmen, we see how willing they are to exehange a good conscience for a bishopric." Sir Robert Phiiips, (o the wrongs afa*eady ennmerated addl- ed one which he treated as the *^ oiaia one ;" *^ Religbn made rendibie by commission, and men for pecuniary annual rates dispensed withal, whereby papists nuiy, without fear of law, practise idolatry, scoff at parliaments, laws and all." Afterwards, in pleading that freedom had always been the birth-right of the people, be triumphantly asked, *^ Was there ever yet king of England that directly violated the subject's liberty and property, but their actions were ever complained of and redressed 1" The oppressions under which the coun- try groaned, he divided into acts of power without law, and judgments of law against liberty, and wound up all with *^at fatal last judgment against the liberty of the subject aigued and pronounced but by one judge alone.". «...** I can live," pursued the passionate orator, '^ although another who has no right be put to live with me ; nay, I can live, although I pay excises and impositions morie than I do ; but to have my liberty, which is the soul of my life, taken from me by pow- er ; and to have my body pent up in a gaol, without remedy by law, and tobe so adjudged — O improvident ancestors ! O unwise forefadbers I To be so curious in providing for the quiet possessbn of our laws, and the liberties of parliament, and to neglect our persons and bodies, and to let them lie in prison, and that during plearsure, remediless ! If this be law, w^iy do we talk of liberties % Why do we trouble ourselves with a dispute about law, franchbes, property of goods and the like % What may any man call his own, if not the liber^ of his person ] I am weary of treading these ways, and therefore conclude to have a select committee deputed to frame a petition to his majesty for the redress of these things." Sir John Eliot and other members expressed themselves to the same effect, and in a style not less pure and excellent ; for it is worthy of remark, that no socmer was servile adulation, long since remarked among the principal causes of the cor- ruption of eloquence, effectually checked, and a higher toiie of moral sentiment attained, than the pedantic and garrulous inanity of king James's school of rhetoric passed away and was forgotten. English law had been trampled upon, English liberty cried aloud for champions and assertors, and not in vain ; deep thoughts and high resolves were maturing in ro»i- 131 ]y bogoms ; great and important principles were to be laid down, noble sentiments to be attered and inspired ; and thej seized at once upon the language of truth and nature as their inatienable right Sir Thomas Wentworth was in the number of the loan re- fusers returned for this parliament ; he still enrolled himself in the ranks of opposition, and spoke with some show of vebe« mence against the principal grievances of the time ; but he was sufficiently the courtier to conclude his speech in these words : '^ This hath not been done by the king, under the plearing shadow of whose crown I hope we shall ever gather the fruits of justice ; but by projectors, who have taken from us all means of supplying the king, and ingratiating ourselves with him, by tearing up the roots of all property.'* Secretary Cook, affrighted at the gathering storm, now en- deavoured to qualify the peremptoriness of the royal demands and soothe the house to compliance, by admitting that grievan- ces should have their turn as well as supply ; he begged how- ever to suggest, that the king's business ought, in honor of him, to have the precedence, and that unity of the parliament with the sovereign, and of the house within itself, was the most important point to be secured, from the efficacy it would have in preventing *^ practices to sow divisions amongst us both at home and abroad." ^ The first sower of distractions amongst us,*' he added, *^ was an agent of Spain, Gondomar, that did his master great service here and at home. Since that, we have had other ministers that have blown the JSre. The ambassador of Trance told his master at home what he had wrought here the last parliament, namely divisions be- tween king and people, and he was rewarded for it. Whilst we sat here in parliament, there was another parliament of Jesuits and other ill-willers within a mile of this place ; that this is true, was discovered by letters sent to Rome. The place of their meeting is changed, and some of them are where they ought to be." There was some address in this attempt, on the part of the secretary, to suggest that the popular party, by opposing the demands of the king and reprobating his measures, were in effect strengthening the hands of foreign enemies, and es- pecially of the recusants whom they feared and bated : and in a certain degree it m^ht be the case ; but these enlightened statesmen well knew, that the ** distractions" compluned of had sprung from another, and a far deeper root, than the busy intrigues of foreign agents or their tools or accomplices ; and 132 difldaining the idea of a unity of winch abject siibtnimon to the exorbitancea of power must serve as the bond, they- re« mained firm to their own plan of securing the lasting repose of the nation by causing regal authority again to respect the bounds marked out for it by the laws. They turned a deaf ear therefore to repeated messages from the king urging supply; and in the difierent committees the late oppressions and grievances were set forth and warmly commented upon by the most distinguished speakers and patriots ; the funda- mental principles of the English constitution being at the same time firmly laid down, and the venerated precedents of for* mer ages drawn forth in long array for their support^ by the eminent lawyers who formed a considerable body in the house, and who showed themselves for the most part faithful cham- pions of the people's rights. The combined results of all their labors came forth at length in the celebrated Petition of Right ; and during the many weeks that this bill was in pre* paration, the struggles of the opposing parties^ and the facts and arguments thus elicited, offered to the whole nation scenes and topics of the deepest interest It was discovered by the examination of witnesses before a ^mmittee, that the attorney->general had earnestly and re- peatedly demanded, that the refusal of the judges to admit to bail [the gentleman imprisoned by the king's command should be entered upon the record as a special judgment decisive of the general question in dispute ; to this the judges had pru- dently refused their consent ; yet he ceased not his importuni- ties till a week before the meeting of parliament ; then, in- deed, he had voluntarily takeit back the draught which he had framed for the purpose, and allowed the business to drop in silence. " This draught of a judgment," remarked the venerable sir Edward Coke, ^^ will sting us Being com- mitted by the king's command, he myst not be bailed,-— what is this but to declare that any subject committed upon such absolute command may be detained in prison for ever 1 I fear, were it not for this parliament that followed so close af- ter that form of a judgment was drawn up, there would have been hard putting to have had it entered. But a parliament brings judges, ofiioers, and all men into order." In fact these judges were soon after called upon by the commons to justify their conduct in the house of lords, when Mr. Justice Whitelock affirmed that their refusal of present re- dress to these gentlemen was not a final decision ; that they were but remitted till the courrt bad better advised x)f the 18S • matter, and might have bad a new wilt the next daj ; adding, "Thejsay we ought not to have denied bail; I answer, if we bad not done su, it must needs have reflected upon the king, as if he had unjustly imprisoned them ..... I have spent mj time in this court, and I speak confidently, I did never se^ or know by any record, that upon such a return as this, a man was bailed, the king not first consulted with, in such a case as this. The commons house do not know what letters and commands we receive ; for these remain in our court, and are not viewed by them.'* His brethren excused themselves nearly in the same manner, none of them daring to urge even the shadow of law for their defence, but barely pleading those ^'letters and commands" which they had chosen to obey in violation of their duty and their oaths. The recent displacement of lord chief justice Crew, had in- deed feelingly taught th^se functionaries by what tenor they held their offices, and a few months afterwards the lesson was repeated in the person of chief baron Walter ; the same whp, under the preceding reign, being selected as the instrument of the court in the prosecution of Coke, returned his brief, sajingf ** May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth whenever I open it against sir Edward Coke !" A similar repugnance to rise upon his ruin was manifested even by the judge whose subserviency had most disgraced him. ^^ The chief baron Walter is put out," says Bulstrode Whitelock in his Memorials, *^ and the king said of judge Whitelock that he was a stout, wise, and a learned man, and one who knew what belonged to uphold magistrates and magistracy in their dignity ; and there was some speech of making him chief baron in the room of Walter ; but my father had no great mind to succeed Walter ; because Walter alleged that hia patent of that office was qiMmdm bene se geeserit, and that he ought not to be removed but by a scire facia^.^^ A petition against recusants was agreed upon at a confe- rence of the two houses, in which, amongst other proofs of the increasing boldness of the catholics, it was mentioned, that they had now in England a bishop consecrated by the pope, with all subaltern officers, who exercised juris* diction throughout the kingdom, made visitations, kept courts, and decided ecclesiastical causes ; and that even the regulars had taken deep root ; that . they had planted their societies and colleges of both sexes^ h^d settled revenues, liji^aries and vestments ; and proposed to hold ^ coneu,rreAt asaembly with the parliament ; <Hi all which jiccounts full Vol. I. 16 184 and due execution of the laws was prayed against them. But it was said at court, that in the essential point of religion, a cheerful contribution to the loan, the papists were per- fectly orthodox, and the puritans the only recusants; and the king was on that account so exceedingly loth to give them any molestation, that although be found i^xpedient to return first a general, and afterwards a more particular assent to the petition, he could not refrain from exhibiting great displeasure on the occasion. On a petition being mov- ed by the puritanical party for the appointment of a day of fasting and humiliation, he remarked, that as we pray to God to help us, so we must help ourselves. For we can have no assurance of his assistance if we do lie in bed and only pray, without using other means. " And therefore,'' he added, ** I must remember you, that if we do not make provision speedily, we shall not be able to put one ship to sea this year." Having however complied with the sense of both houses in the matter of recusants, he caused the supplies to be again proposed to the commons ; but sir Edward Coke stat- ed, that subsidies had been obstructed in the time of Henry IV., when one or two great men about the king so mewed him up, that he took no advice but from them ; and sir Thomas Wentworth and others, opposed to the power of the duke, strongly supporting the same side, it was agreed to waive the royal propositions and proceed \yith grievances. A resolution now passed, that no freeman ought to be con- fined by warrant from the king or privy council, or others, unless by due course of law ; and the learned Selden took occasion to explain, that confinement was a different thing' from imprisonment, and that it was a punishment totally un- known to the English law, except that the Jews had been confined in former times to the Old Jewry ; that the civilians indeed had perpetual and coercive prisons. Sir Thomas Hobby added, that recusants were confined in strong places in the year 1588, but that it was not held legal, and that when the Armada was dispersed, they were liberated, and the parliament petitioned the queen for a law to warrant the confinement. Two successive messages were brought from ' the king ; the first a conciliatory one, contradicting for the duke a report of sharp speeches made by him in council against the parliament, and, for the king himself, disclaiming all intention of encroaching up6n the people's liberties ; the second, another and more pressing demand for money. On this, five subsidies were voted; a greater number than batl 1S6 •rer before been granted at one time, thouf b the amount as his majesty took care to make known, was still inferior to his wants. Secretary Cook informed the house, that the king, on learnings that the supply had been carried unani'- mously, was greatly aflFected by such a proof of their duty and affection, and professed that it would bring him back to bis pristine love of parliaments, which he had lost he knew Dot how. This declaration being well received, the secretary was encouraged to go on, and repeated a speech of the duke's made to the king at the council, expressing hU approbation also of the proceeding of the commons, in reward of which, aaid he, ^^ I am a humble suitor that I, who have had the bonor to be your favorite, may now give up that title unto them ; they to be your favorites, and I to be your favorite ;" going on to, express his sorrow that he should have been thought ^Uhe mean of separation that divided the king from the people," and promising to approve himself '^ a good spi- rit, breathing none but the best of services to them all." But this lofty patronage of the representative body by the only man who had ever dared in England openly to arrogate to himself the odious title of a favorite, was felt as an addi- tional insolence, which was thus reprehended by Eliot. " Is it that any man conceives that the mention of others, of what quality soever, can add encouragement or affection to us in our duties towards his majesty, or give them greater lat- itude or extent than naturally they have ? Or is it supposed that the power or interest of any roan can add more readi- ness to his majesty in his gracious inclination to us, than his own goodness gives us 1 I cannot believe it ; I am sorry there is this occasion that these things should be argued, or this mixture, which was formerly condemned, should ap- pear again. I beseech you, sir^ let it not be hereafter ; let no man take this boldness, within these walls to introduce it." The commons now transmitted to the lords their " resolves" respecting the liberty of persons, and several members were appointed to take up particular parts of the argument in this momentous conference. Sir Dudley Digges, by way of intro- duction, showed the immemorial, and as it were sacred an- tiquity of the English common law, " grounded on reason more ancient than books, and continued in most part the same from Saxon times ;" and he then set forth the oppres- sions, and still more the denial of legal redress, which had compelled the parliament thus solemnly ^^ to examine by acts of parliament, precedents and reasons, the truth of the Eng- IS6 Hih tabjecU' libertiH.** Mr. Littleton then cited ittagnt charta and the eoBfirmations of it by aaecestive princes, with all the later eiiactjments by which personal liberty and private property were secured. The king's counsel here brought •ome technical objections, and argued for his majesty's powd- er of committing by prerogatire without cause assigned ; yet were obliged to acknowledge that the seven statutes urged by the commons were in force. Their objections were cleared and answered, and Selden argued next. ** It might seem,'' he said, *^ that after the many acts of parliament which are the written law of the land, and are expressly in the point, had been read and opened, and objections answer«» ed, little remained needful to be added ; but that the houee of commons, taking into consideration that in this question, be-> ing of so high a nature, that never any exceeded it in any court of justice whatsoever, all the several ways of just ex- amination of the truth should be used, have also carefully in- formed themselves of all former judgments or precedents con-- eeming this great point ;" and these he was charged to un- fold. He explained, that whenever any rights or liberty be- longed to the subject, whether by the written or the unwrit- ten law, some remedy had also been given by law, for enjoy- ing or regaining this right or liberty, when violated or taken from him. That the writ of habeas corpus was the remedy pro- vided in eases of arbitrary imprisonment by special command of the king dr council ; and he produced twelve precedents to show that under it, persons so imprisoned ought to be lib- erated on bail by the court of king's bench. Last of all, sir Edward Coke, the Nestor of the host, ** took up the argument as to the rational part of the law." The lapse of eighty years had neither dissipated the mighty stores of legal learning which it had been the business of his life to iecumulate, blunted his perspicacity, nor quenched his ardor. Long since a confessor in the cause of English law, of which he had been the vigilant and almost sole protector against the ehcroaehments of civilians and the prerogative doctrines of king James, habit as well as reflection had serv- ed to rivet his attachment to that venerable system ; and when he again saw its very foundations assailed and in danger to be overthrown, it was rather with the spirited alacrity of youth than the * sober zeal of age' that he sprang forth to its defence. **l &m mueh transported with joy," he said, ** because of the good hope of suecess in this mighty buiiiness^ your lordships beibg ib full of jultice : And the very theme and subject 197 doth promhe success tht freedom of an Eng^Iishnftaii not to be imprisoned without cause shown ; wherein I wiH not be prolix nor co]hous ; for to gild gold were idle and su- perfluous.'' Yet he proceeded to pour upon the subject a full atream of law and logic, and in the close skilfully brought the subject home to the bosoms of the peers by observing, that this unlimited claim of the power of arbitrary imprisonment ieuched them. as much as the lower house ; and that common dangers required common aid; wherefore their concurrence had now been sought in a declaration of rights, and in such further course as might secure both their lordships and the commons and all their posterity in the enjoyment of their an- cient, undoubted, and fundamental liberties^* The two following days were occupied in debates respecting the unlawful billeting of soldiers ; and in the meantime the king Was busied in seeking expedients to obstruct the petition of right in its progress through the two houses ; as an act to which he abhorred to grant, yet dared not openly refuse -his essent A message which he sent to the commons desiring that on account of the urgency of business they would make no recess at Easter, was an interference which gave offence. ** I am as tender of the privileges of this house," said sir Ed- ward Coke, " as of my life, and they are the heartstrings of jthe commonwealth. The king makes a prorogation, but this bouse adjourns itself." And it adjourned accordingly. On resuming, the commons were again urged by repeated messages for supply ; and when they persisted in following their own course, the secretary informed them, and as he said» With grief, that ^^ notice was taken as if this bouse pressed not upon the abuses of power only, but upon power itself." This was again ^* very unpleasing" to the comipons, ^nd it was observed that such messages in the time of the king's far ther had done no good. An address was now drawn up for the purpose of setting his majesty right as to the sentiments and intentions of parliament, accompanied by a petition against the billeting of soldiers in private houses. The king replied in a tone of displeasure, and deferred giving an an- swer to the petition* Martial law was the next grievance debated, and a con- ference of the two houses was held respecting it, at which Serjeant Ashley, for saying that the propositions of the com- moiiif tended to anarchy, and that they must allow the king * Rushworth, i. 533, ti aeq. 1 to govern by acts of ttatCy was committed by the lords and obliged to retract. The peers now delivered to the commons, by the hands of archbishop Abbot, some propositions for saving to the king a power of committing by prerogative^ that is to say UlegaUy^ in extraordinary cases, of which he was left the sole judge ; but to these, as destructive of the whole object of the petition of right, they refused their assent. On the failure of this at- tempt, the king on April 28th came to the house, and in bk presence the lord keeper, by his command, delivered a speech again pressing for supply, and assuring the house that his majesty heid magna charla and the other statutes in force ; that he would maintain his subjects in the just freedom of their persons and safety of their estates, and would govern accord- ing to the laws ; and that they should find as much security in his royal word as in any law they could make, so that they should never in future have cause to complain. He conclud- ed thus : *^ The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion, and all laws with his wrath are to no effect ; but the king's favour is like the. dew^f the grass ; there all will prosper.'' This was the phraseology of oriental despotism, not of the English constitution ; it was in itself an insult to the legisla- ture, and it could not be believed that the prince who caused it to be employed was sincere in his professed intention of re- specting the liberties of the people in his administration. Eva- sion might even be detected 4n the very terms in which the royal word was tendered ; and the representatives of the people would have viewed themselves as betrayers of their trust, had they now rested satisfied with less than the most solemn and authentic pledge which they could ask or he could give. It was accordingly resolved to proceed with the draught of the bill. On. May Ist, the king sent by the secretary to know de- cidedly whether the house would rest on his royal word or no i " Upon this there was silence for a good space." Sec- retary Cook then rose, and after excusing what was past on the plea of the king's necessities at first coming to the crown, asked what better security than his word they could desire for the future? He intimated that the proposed bill would be considered as an encroachment on the prerogative, and would " find difiiculty with the king or with the lords ;" and he audaciously added, *^ Do not think that by eases of law and debate we can make that not to be law which in expe- rience we every day find necessary : make what law you will, 1^ if I do discharge the place I bear, I must commit men, and must not discover the cause to any jailor or judge." Sir Robert Philips said on this, '^ that if the words of kings strike impressions in the hearts of subjects, then do these words up- on this occasion strike an impression in the hearts of us all ; to speak in a plain language, we are now come to the end of our journey, and the well-disposing of an answer to this mes- sage, will give happiness or mberj to this kingdom." Sir Edward Coke represented, that the king had previously sent word that the parliament might secure themselves any way, by bill or otherwise, he promised to give way to it ;" and there- fore his royal word was to be taken in the solemn form of a grant, or an assent to a bill : And this resolution prevailed. In a peremptory message, Charles now warned the house against encroaching on his prerc^ative, and announced his intention of ending the session by Tuesday sennight at the fur- thest. Sir John Eliot complained of the king's persisting to believe that they " went about to make any thing new ;" of the intended shortness of the session, and of these frequent in- terruptions, proceeding from "misreports and misrepresenta- tions" to his majesty. It was then determined to make a con- clusive answer to all these royal messages by the mouth of the speaker ; and in very respectful terms his majesty was assur- ed of the loyal and dutiful attachment of the house ; but in- formed, that in consequence of the late public violations of the laws and the people's liberties, they should proceed to frame a bill to which, as it would attempt T>ot the smallest en- croachment on the prerogative, they should hope for his ma- jesty's gracious assent. The king, in reply, again reproached them with delay of the public business, and showed a jealousy of their seeking to tie him "by new and indeed impossible bonds," which would render them accountable to God and the country for the ill-success of this meeting. He promised however to consent to a bill simply confirmatory of the ancient charters ; but this concession was again invalidated by a new message urging reliance on the king's simple word. By these multi- plied evasions distrust was necessarily increased, and the very repugnance of the king to concede, offered a strong addition- al motive to the house to insist. BaflSed by the commons, Charles applied himself to the lords by a letter in which he manifested extreme reluctance to disclaim the power of arbitrary imprisonment, and express- ed an anxious desire that his declaration that he would never 140 p.TVert such a power to purposes of oppression or arbitra- ry exaction, but would use it conscientiously in cases of state necessity only, might be accepted as a sufficient secu- rity for personal liberty. The peers accordiogly proposed to add to the bill a saving clause for " that sovereign power with which his majesty was trusted for the protection, safety, and happiaess of the people." But the sagacious leaders in the house of commons, with their jealous vigilance fully arous« ed, were no fit subjects for an artifice so futile. Selden, Pyno, Noy, Went worth and otheis, immediately protested against an exception which, if they admitted it, would destroy the whole force of the rule, and in eOect, leave the subject in a worse state than ever. ^' It is a matter of great weight,** said sir Edward Coke ; ^* and to speak plainly it will overthrow all our petition, it trenches to all parts of it I know that prerogative is part of the law, but sovereign power is no par- liamentary word. In ray opinion it weakens magna charta and all our statutes ; for they are absolute, without any sar- ing of sovereign pcwer ; and shall we now add it, we shall weaken the foundation of law, and then the building must needs fall Magna charta is such a fellow that he will have no sovereign.*** On this momentous affair repeated conferences were held between the two houses; and the peers, yielding at length, perhaps not unwillingly, to the per- tinacity of the commons, withdrew the clause and passed the bill in its original form. It was then presented to his majesty with a request that he would give it his assent in full parlia- ment ; and the eyes of the whole nation watched with intense anxiety for the event In the meantime, complaint was made in the house of com- mons of two sermons preached by Roger Manwaring, a royal chaplain, before the king and court, in which he, like Sib- thorp, bad ascribed to the sovereign an authority superior to the biws and independent of parliaments, and a power of levy- ing taxes by his sole prerogative, which it was an impiety wpr- thy of everlasting perdition for the subject to resist. As a spe- cimen of the language which this clerical sycophant, in the prodigality of his baseness, had addressed without reproof to the ear of a prince eulogized for his piety, the following sen- tence may be offered. '< Of all relations, the first and origi- nal is between the Creator and the creatures ; the next be- tween husband and wife ; the third between parents and chil- * Ruahwortb, i. MS. 141 dren, the fourth between lord and serrants ; from all which fore-named Fcspecls there doth arise that most high, sacred, and transcendent relation between king and subject.** Charles did not think proper, in the present crisis of his affairs, to interpose to screen his slave from the animadversion of parliament ; and Manwaring in spite of his palliations and excuses, and the submission which he pronounced with many tears, was sentenced by the lords, at the suit of the commons, to be imprisoned during the pleasure of the house, to pay, lOOOZ. to the king, and to be suspended for three years from his clerical functions ; he was declared for ever incapable of ecclesiastidal preferment, and his book was ordered to be called in and burned. Pym was the chief conductor of this impeachment, in which the severe and arbitrary spirit of the star-chamber seems to have been too closely copied. At length the important day arrived ; on June 2nd the king went to the house of lords, and after assuring the parliament of his purpose to give them satisfaction respecting the Petition both in form and substance, — to the general surprise and dis- appointment, evading the customary form of royal assent, pro- nounced these words. " The king willeth that right be done according to the laws and customs of the realm ; and that the statutes be put in due execution, that his subjects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppressions, contrary to their just rights and liberties, to the preservation whereof he holds himself in conscience as well obliged, as of his pre- rogative." There was perhaps iio weaker act than this in the whole life of Charles, and its consequences were irreparable. The commons of England, having repeatedly declared and ful- ly proved, that they sought nothing but their undoubted right to be governed by the laws of the land ; to which the king had pledged obedience by his coronation oath, but which in points of the most vital interest he had manifestly and repeatedly violated ; — having rejected the evasion proposed by the other branch of the legislature, and obtained its full concurrence in their original bill; — willing to forgive, but unable to forget, the past delinquencies of their prince ; — ^having re- jected as worthless all slighter securities, came to demand of him a sole'mn pledge for his future conduct in the authentic form of legal assent to a declaratory law. — ^Was this a time, was this a cause " to palter with them in a double sense V* Could there be any middle way in such a case 1 They had required nothing more than their right, they bad refused to be contented with less : The king, without troops, without Vol. I. n 142 treasure, almost without a party, wanted alike strength and boldness to refuse their bill and openly assert the tyrant. After numerous delays and various shiftings he had promised them full satisfaction, he had sent for them to receive it, — he dismissed them with a subterfuge, and had the incredible folly not to perceive, that it was a negative imbittered by a mock- ery and accompanied by a confession of weakness. Oq the return of the commons to their own house, the gen- eral indignation burst forth ; the popular leaders suffered them- selves to be transported beyond the bounds of their former respectful forbearance, and sir John Eliot "stood up and made a long speech, wherein he gave forth so full and lively a representation of all grievances,^ both general and particu- lar, as if they had never before been mentioned." Some members were displeased, fearing that such a representation would only serve to exasperate the king, whom they still hoped to reconcile ; but the majority urged him to proceed ; and it was resolved, on the motion of sir Edward Coke, to present his majesty a remonstrance " touching the dangers and means of safety of the king and kingdom.'* Meantime the business of the subsidy was postponed. A royal message now announced, that . his majesty was resolved to abide by bis answer, " full of grace and justice," to their petition, and urged them to conclude their business before the early day fixed for the dissolution. Two days after, the king sent to assure them once more, that he would keep his time for ending the session, and to command them to enter into no new business which might spend time, or " lay any scandal or as- persion upon the state, government, or ministers thereof." Sir Robert Philips then rose, and with the most pathetic earnest- ness bewailed the unhappy issue of all their well-meant en- deavours to cure the people's wounds and do that which would have made the king himself great and glorious : — to have given him true information of his and the nation's danger. " But," said he, " we being stopped, and stopped in such a manner, as we are enjoined, so we must now cease to be a councik I hear this with that grief, as the saddest message of the greatest loss in the world ; but let us still be wise, be hum- ble ; let us make a fair declaration to the king." Sir John Eliot followed ; and after solemnly protesting that the com- mons intended nothing but to vipdicate their king and country from dishonor, he proceeded thus. " It is said also as if we cast some aspersions on his majesty's ministers ; I am confi- dent no minister, how dear soever, can " Here the 143 Speaker, apprehending be w*as about to fall upon the duke, started from the chair, saying ; '' There is a command upon me that I must command you not to proceed.'' Sir John Eliot sat down. A scene ensued the most pathetic, and its argury the most appalling ever exhibited in the English house of commons ; thus vividly depicted in a letter written by Mr. Alured, one of the members present, on the following morning. " . . . . The house was much affected to be so restrained, since the house in former times had proceeded by finding and committing John of Gaunt the king's son, and others, and of late have meddled with and censured the lord chancellor Bacon and the lord treasurer Cranfield; Then sir Robert spake, and mingled his words with weeping ; Mr. Prynn did the like ; and sir Edward Coke, overcome with passion, seeing the de- struction likely to ensue, was forced to sit down when he be- gan to speak, through the abundance of tears ; yea, the Speak- er in his speech could not refrain from weeping and shedding of tears, besides a great many whose great griefs made them dumb and silent ; yet some bore up in that storm, and en- couraged others. In the end, they desired the Speaker to leave the chair, and Mr. Whitby was to come into it, that they might speak the freer and the frequenter, and commanded no man to go out of the house upon pain of going to the Tower. Then the Speaker humbly and earnestly be- sought the house to give him leave to absent himself for half an hour, presuming they did nut think he did it for any ill intention ; which was instantly granted him. Then upon many debates about their liberties hereby infringed, and the eminent danger wherein the kingdom stood, sir Edward Coke told them he now saw God had not accepted of their hum- ble and moderate carriages and fair proceedings, and the ra- ther, because he thought they dealt not sincerely with the king and with the country, i^i making a true representation of the causes of all these miseries, which now he repented himself, since things were come to this pass, that we did it not sooner ; and therefore he, not knowing whether ever he should speak in this house again, would now do it freely ; and there protested that the author and cause of all these miseries was the duke of Buckingham, which was entertained and answered with a cheerful acclanjation of the house ; as when one good bound recovers the scent, the rest come in wjth a full cry, so they pursued it, and every one came on home, and laid the blame where they thought the fault was ; 144 and as they were voting it to the qtiestion whether they sbouki name him in their intended remonstrance, the sole, or the principal cause of all their miseries at home and abroad, the Speaker, having been three hours absent and with the king, returned with this message ; That the house should then rise till tomorrow morning. What we shall expect this morning, God of heaven knows."* ^ These extraordinary signs of agitation in the house of com- mons, had evidently inspired the ministers with extreme alarm ; it was plain that no concession would come fi'om that quarter ; the vote of subsidy would not be passed into a law till the petition of right were secured ; and to dissolve ano^ ther parliament without any relief to the king's necessities, was to plunge again intd the most appalling difficulties. It was therefore found necessary for Charles, by a new message, to disclaim, however inconsistently, all intention of restraining the commons from their " just privileges" to complain of bis ministers ; and the commons, having prevailed upon the lords to join them in a humble request to the king for a more sat- isfactory answer to their petition,' resumed its consideration of grievances with an inquiry respecting the secret levy of foreign troops in Holland. At length, on June 8th, the king once more made his ap- pearance in the house of lords, and causing the petition of right to be read, after some expressions which looked like a lingering reservation for what he was pleased to consider as his prerogative, gave his assent to it in the customary form. The joy of the people on this event was unbounded : bells were rung, bonfires lighted, and a day of festivity celebrated throughout the metropolis. This memorable charter of English liberties consists sim- ply of a perpetual renunciation on the part of the king of four kinds of oppression stated to have been lately exercised against the people, contrary to tjje common law and statutes : The levy of loans or taxes not enacted by common consent in parliament, and the imposition of unlawful oaths and the subjecting of men to confinement and other molestations re- specting them : Imprisonment without due process of law by the king's special command : The billeting of soldiers in pri- vate houses : and lastly, Commissions for subjecting soldiers and others to martial law, when they are rightly amenable to the common justice of the country. It was perfectly true * Rushworth, i. 56S. 145 that nothings was added by this instrument to the recorded rights of Englishmen, nor anything takeji away from the legal powers of the crown ; but tyranny and oppression hart in some of these points been exercised so freq^iently by his pre- decessors, and in all of them had been carried so far by him- self, that the. subjects of Charles esteemed it more than a victory to be but promised hereafter the unmolested enjoy- ment of what was incontrovertibly their own. Great alacrity was now manifested in the commons to car- ry though the bill far subsidy, which the king was understood to hare earned by his late compliance, and also that for ton- nage and poundage ; but it still appeared expedient to the majority to present a remonstrance capable of opening his eyes to the chief abuses and grievances of his government, * still unredressed. In the debates on this topic, the forbidden question, — who was the chief cause of all these grievances % was still recurring, and indeed could not but recur ; and after warm discussions it was determined that a complaint of the excessive and abused power of the duke of Buckingham, and a prayer for his removal from office, should form a pro- minent feature of the remonstrance. At this juncture, the king caused the bill exhibited against the duke in the star- chamber, together with bis answer and all the further proceedings, to be taken off the file ; upon his own cer- tain knowledge, as he expressed himself^ together with other proofs, of his innocence ; and in order that no re- cord should remain against him tending to his disgrace. The duke likewise made an attempt to vindicate himself to the house from certain calumnies. But all these efforts were useless, if not injurious ; and the exasperation of the people against him mounted to a kind of fury. An empiric of in- "famous character named Lamb, commonly called the duke's conjurer, and popularly believed to have been employed by him in poisonings and other deeds of darkness, waff set upon by the London mob in the streets, in open day, and beaten to death ; and a rude rhyme was on the lips of the multitude, threatening his master with a like fate. No one would inform against the perpetrators of this outrage, in order to bring them to justice, and on that account a fine of 6000Z. was ar- bitrarily imposed upon the city by the council. Within the walls of the house of commons as well as without, the duke had now been pointed out as the evil counsellor who had obstructed the royal assent to the pe- tition of right, and sown dissensions between the king 146 and the parliament for the purpose of averting^ the impeach- ment which hung over hira. Under these circumstances^ the safety of the favorite and the longer duration of the session were manifestly incompatible ; and Charles, determined which to prefer, awaited only a pretext to end the struggle. This was soon supplied ; — the illegal commission of excise granted before the meeting of parliament, as well as the unauthorized levy of tonnage and poundage, having been added to the to- pics of the Temonstraoce, already a long and severe one, the king, OH June 26th, suddenly appeared in the house during the reading of this piece, and abruptly announcing that he came to end the session, declared as the motive ; That he had never intended by the petition of right to restrain himself frpm levying tonnage and poundage, a chief hranch of his revenue, and one which he could not dispense with ; and that he was resolved to receive no remonstrance to which he must give a harsh answer. He took occasion to assert, that he owed an account of his actions to^od alone, and ended by claiming for himself, through his judges, the sole right of interpreting the laws and declaring the true intent and meaning of his own concessions : — An evasion by means of which all the barriers against arbitrary power just erected with such con- summate skill and inflexible resolution, seemed again to vanish into thin air. It is a remarkable trait of the hasty and passionate charac- ter of Charles's political measures, that his appearance in the bouse on this occasion was so sudden, that the peers had not time even to put on their robes ; and the subsidy-bill and some others were of necessity submitted for the royal assent without certain customary forms. Parliament was at this time prorogued to a day in October, and afterwards to the ensuing January. 147 CHAPTER VIL 1628. 1629. Expeditioti prepared for the relief of ^La RocheUe. — T^c duke of Buckingham assassinated bi/ Felton. — Particulars. — Treatment of Felton, — The judges declare against putting him to the rack, ^^His death, — Character of JBuckingham,^~3ehaviour of the king respecting him, — His funeral, — His expenses compared with those of Dudley earl of Leicester, ^-Failure of the expe- dition and fall of £a Rochelle, — Williams restored to favour by Buckingham but again expelled by Laud, — TVentworth gain- ed over and made a peer, — Land bishop of Lond€n,^~Prefer'' ment of Montague and Manwaring, — Abbot concitiated. — King resohes to take a high tone with parliament, — lis opening, — Fraud of the king respecting the petition of^ rigkt.^^Case of JUr, Rolh.^ — Disagreement of king and commons on tonnage and poundage,— r- Vow of the commons to. resist ecclesiastical op- pressions cMd encroachments, — ^Complaints of the merchants. — King defends the acts of the officers of customs, — Report of religion, — Oliver Cromwell,^— Licensing of books, — Fliot at- tacks ministers and bishops, — The house commanded to ad- journ, — Speaker held in the chair and a remonstrance voted,'— Members committed, — Parliament dissolved, — Proceedings against the imprisoned members, and conduct of judges* — Court revenge upon the merchants, — Various encroachments of arbitrary courts, — Conduct of imprisoned members.-^Account and letters of sir J. Eliot, WITH coffers recruited by the subsidies of bis people, Charles again turned his attentioi> from parliainentary x:oii* tests to foreign warfare ; and the fleet under the earl of Den- bigh haying failed even to attempt anything for the relief of the ill-fated La Rochelle, now closely invested by the forces of the French monarch under the active superintendence of Richelieu, a new expedition vi^as projected for that purpose, in which Buckingham flattered himself with hopes of retiiev« ing the honor, personal and national, squandered \u his rash attack on the Isle of Rhe. The armament was to sail from Portsmouth, whither the duke had repaired to inspect the preparations ; the king with his court was lodged four miles distant, and all was nearly in 148 readiness. On the morning of Angust 23d a brilliant cirche of naval and milrtary officers, nobility, courtiers and suitors of dtfiferent classes, attended the levee of the duke. The prince de Soubize and other French refugees had been in ea- ger debate with him, laboring to prove that some intelligence which he had received of the relief of La Rochelle was false and designed to damp his enterprise. The conversation be- ing ended, he was passing out from his dressing-room to the hall, when, amid the ci^owd in the lobby, an unseen hand, striking from behind, planted a knife in his bosom ; he pluck- ed it himself from the wound, and staggering a few steps dropped and expired. In the confusion which ensued, no one having marked the assassin, suspicion turned on the French gentlemen, owing to the altercation which had just occurred, and Uiey were with difficulty saved by calmer by- standers from the fury of the duke's attendants, A hat was then picked up, la which was sewed a paper cQntaii\tQg these lines : " That man is cowardly base, and deserveth not the name of a gentleman or soldier, that is not willing to sacri- fice his life for the honour of his God, Vis king and bis coun- try. Let no man commend me for the doing of it, but rath- er discommend themselves, as the cause of it ; for if God had not taken our hearts for aur sins, he had not gone so long un- punished. "John Felton."* Time sufficient had elapsed for the owner of the hat to have made his escape, h^d he been so disposed ; but glorying in the deed| and H^areless of the consequences, he remained on the spot ; and hearing the cry, " Where Is the man that kill- * ed the duke 1" he advanced, and calmly answered, " I am he." On being seized, he was immediately thrust into a small guard-house, *' horribly laden with manacled irons, nei- ther to sit nor to He down, but to be crippled against the wall,"t and a gentleman was sent off to know his majesty's further pleasure. A royal chaplain was speedily dispatched to visit the prisoner, and under pt*etence of affording him spiritual consolation fo find out if possible his motives and accomplices. . Felton sagaciously observed, that he w^as not so ignorant as to believe himself worthy of the reverend gentleman's conso- lations, but he would receive him as an examiner ; and after some further discourse, " Sir," he said, " I shall foe brief; I * From the originat in tho pMsession of Mr. TJpeot. t Sandor80ii« p. 132. 14§ kille<I him for the cause of God and my country.** The divine replied, by using a pious or political fraud, — ^that the surgeons gave hopes of his life. " It is impossible," exclaim- ed the enthusiast ; " I had the power of forty men, assisted by him that guided my hand.*' Prom subsequent interrogations these particulars were collected : That he was named John Felton, a younger brother of a decayed house in Norfolk, and formerly a lieutenant of foot under sir James Ramsey ; that he failed of obtaining a captains' commission in the present ex- pedition, but that he bore no ill-will on that, or any other private account to the duke, from whom he had, received handsome treatment. But that, " the remonstrance of parliament pub- lished him as so odious, that he appeared to him deserving of death, which no justice durst execute. Something he said of a sermon at St. Faithis, where the preacher spoke in justifi- cation of every man's being, in a good cause, the judge and executioner of sin ; which he interpreted as meant for him : That passing out at the postern upon Tower-hill, he espied that knife in' a cutler's glass and bought it ; and from that time he resolved to stab the duke with it. Some days after, he followed him to Portsmouth, and sharpened his knife on a cross erected by the wayside ; believing it more proper in justice to advantage his design, than for the superstitious in- tent it was first erected. That he found continual trouble and disquiet of mind until he should perform this fact, and came to town but that morning : That no living soul was ac- cessory with him : That he was assured his fact was jus- tified, and he the redeemer of the people's sufferings under the power of the duke's usurpations."* It was thought proper to treat the assassin of so great a person in all respects as a state-criminal ; he was therefore conveyed to the Tower, and examined by members of the privy-council ; and on his persisting to deny that he had any accomplices, he was threatened with the rack, both, as it is said, by the duke of Dorset, and by Laud, whose dread of a like fate, the effect of the popular odium in which he large- ly shared, no less than his attachment to his patron, added exasperation on this occasion id the native fierceness of his temper. The king also was desirous that this atrocity should be resorted to, if the judges could be brought to sanction it ; but on their honorable and unanimous declaration, that the use of torture had been at all times unwarrantable by the * Sanderson, p. 122. Vol. I. 18 IbO Engliih law, his majesty, we are told, ^* declined to use bis prerogative'^ in the affair. For some time the prisoner con- tinued to maintain the lawfulness of his deed, but at length, '^ through the continual inculcation of his majesty's chap- lains, and other of the long robe,"* he was brought to such a cense of guilt as to desire that the hand that struck the blow fihould be cut off before his execution. The king was not backward in expressing his wish that advantage should be taken of the offer ; but the opinion of the judges was again interposed to save English justice from the stain of cruelty ; *^ neither himseif nor the endeavours of the king's friends could procure him a sharper punishment than law and custom provides, in case of a murder, for the meanest subject ;"f and about three months after the fact, he was sent down to Ports- mouth and there hung in chains. George duke of Buckingham, that eminent favorite of two successive sovereigns to whose power and arrogance Eng- lish history has happily never since produced a parallel, was cut off at the age of thirty-six, after a domination of about twelve years, reckoning from the fall of his predecessor So- merset As it was neither by genius nor industry, by wisdom in counsel nor valor in the field, that the handsome Yilliers had possessed himself of the '' soon won affections" of king James, the rapidity of his rise at court, " where," says Cla- rendon, '^ as if he had been born a favorite, he was supreme the first month he came," forms no just criterion of his capacity. Even in contemplating him during a course of pub- lic employment apparently calculated, whatever causes might have introduced him to it, to bring forth all his qualities into open day, it will be found less easy to estimate his pow- ers of intellect than to catch the strong lights and shades of his temper and to portray his moral qualities. Na- ture and fortune by endowing him with beauty, grace, spirit, a haughty confidence, and the pre-eminent favor of his prince, had done almost enough to render him absolute at the court of James ; yet it is evident that his unceasing vigilance and active energies powerfully cooperated to maintain him at his giddy height ; and the conquest which he achieved over the sullen reserve of the heir-apparent, and the just indigna- tion with which his insolent assumption had inspired him, was clearly due to skill and not to fortune. Changing adroitly his manners with his masters, he appears to have dropped with ♦ Oibome'i Advia, part ii. c. 45. . t IWd. 161 the son tlie imperious tone, the importunate urgency, which had secured his ascendency over the weak fondness and indo« lent good-nature of the father ; and content to put on the servant in order to be in effect the master, he learned to re- ceive back as original emanations of the royal mind, sugges- tions of which he was himself the secret author, and thus to sway by submitting. Availing himself of the leading foibles of Charles's mind, excessive pride of station and despotic will, he led him to believe that it was for the interest of his own glory to crush by acts of power the opposition audaciously aimed against the royal favorite ; and thus, carrying along his master with the momentum of hid own impetuosity, he was enabled to subdue all his enemies, humble the whole court beneath his feet, disconcert an impeachment, break two par- liaments, whose necks he could not bend, and plunge the na- tion into two unnecessary and inglorious wars, the fruits of his own selfish intrigues or ungoverned passions. All this time he knew how to counterfeit loyal devotedness so skilfully, that the deluded monarch conceived the notion that hU favor- ite minister, solely intent on subduing faction^ reducing the popular branch of the legislature to insignificance, and estab- lishing the revenue of the crown on an independent footing, was generously braving the indignation of a whole people in his cause alone and that of his cherished prerogative. With all due allowance then for many favoring circunistan- ces, facts prove him to have possessed boldness, promptitude, great insight into the characters which it was his interest to study, and perhaps as much depth of thought as is consist- ent with unbridled sensuality, and a spirit merely worldly, — with base designs and selfish ends. Neither was he destitute of such plausible qualities as win adherents and pass in courts for virtues. He was courteous and affable to all men, excepting the peculiar objects of his jealousy and resent- ment ; splended, magnificent, and bountiful even to profu- sion. Warmly attached to his family and connexions, he was unwearied in heaping upon them wealth, places and hon- ors ; their m^its, or their capacities for the public service, he never deigned to estimate or to make any part of his consider- ation. His brothers, as well as himself, profited by the most oppressive and iniquitous monopolies ; his mother^ a bad and artful woman who had great influence over him,, received enormous bribes from suitors of every class ; and either by himself or his relations, all offices, even of judicature, were rendered grossly venal. He was not less vehement or less 162 open in his enmities than his friendships, usually giving full notice to his intended victim of his fixed purpose of ruining him, and of the impossibility of appeasing his anger or avert- ing its effects. But the frankness of offended pride or rancor- ous resentment, is not to be placed in the list of virtues ; and where he judged it more for his interest to circumvent than boldly to confront a rival or a foe, he willingly, as in the case of Bacon, availed himself of artifice. It is said by one delineator of his character,^ to have been his chief misfortune that he never formed a worthy or equal friendship ; his rise being so sudden,that he required depend- ents before he was aware that he could ever stand in nee^d of coadjutors. But favorites are proverbially destitute of friends ; and much more to be deplored was the misfortune of a nation in which the weakness or caprice of the prince was of force to lift an unpractised youth out of his native ob- scurity to a station where his private vices, and even his fail- ings and infirmities, could acquire the dignity of public mis- chiefs. In his manners, his propensities, and even in the footing on which he stood in society, Buckingham more resembled a prince than a minister ; and although it is said that much ex- perience, seconding the elaborate instructions of king James, had given him a quick apprehension of business, and the power of speaking pertinently and gracefully, his want of prudence, moderation and self-command, his ignorance and carelessness of the true interests of the state, and his insolent contempt of the people and their representatives, must for ever have disqualified him for conducting the administration of affairs with credit to himself or advantage to his king or country. His ambition prompted him to grasp at an universal dicta- torship ; besides being in effect prime minister, and holding many other places of honor and profit, he was lord admiral, and at length generalissimo ; but as admiral, both gross neg- ligence and shameful acts of rapacity and extortion were laid to his charge, and to his incapacity as a general, the misfor- tune at the Isle of Rhe was chiefly attributable. There can be no doubt that he exerted himself effectually, though co- vertly, in sowing dissensions between Charles and his young queen, and that so long as he lived she obtained no influence in public afiairs. Some extraordinary traits have been pre- *' Lord Clarendon. » I ..J 153 served of the insolence of behaviour in which he habiUially indulged himself towards her majesty : On one occasion, when she had failed of paying a promised visit to his mother, he told her she should repent it ; and on her answering some- what sharply, he dared to remind her, that there had been queens in England who had lost their heads. Charles thought proper to pass over his insults to his wife with as much tame- nes3 as those which he had formerly offered to himself, and even the haughty Henrietta condescended, at the instance of Bassompierre, and with a view to certain matters of interest, to dissemble, if not to lay aside, her resentment, and accept of his patronage and protection with her royal husband. Whatever judgment men might pass on the tyrannicide of Felton, which some even approved, it is certain that the fall of Buckingham, beyond the immediate sphere of his relations and creatures, was hailed both by the court and country as a signal and fortunate deliverance ; within two hours of his death, the mansion in which he had held his state was com- pletely emptied of clients, of flatterers, and even of the cu- rious throng whom the horrible nature of the deed had drawn together ; and the breathless body was left in such solitude, says a contemporary, '^ as if it had been lying in the sands of Ethopia.'* All were gone for the court, to bustle, to in- trigue ; to beg for new favors or to secure the old ; to hear and utter conjectures, to observe inclinations, to improve occasion, and above all, to learn how the king stood affected by the event. It was as the king was at prayers in his j)resence chamber, with his courtiers kneeling around him, that a gentleman, bursting in and striding with unmannerly haste over the heads of the congregation, reached the king and whispered in his ear that the duke was stabbed to the heart by an assassin. The officiating chaplain stopped short ; but the king, with an untroubled countenance, bade him go on ; and to the end of the service, no sign of emotion was observed to escape him. As soon as this was known, the crowd of courtiers « rushed to the conclusion that their master was, in fact, not displeased to be even thus relieved from a haughty favorite, hated by the people and accused by the parliament, whom he could neither abandon with dignity, nor protect without hazards and sacrifices. Immediately, all mouths were open- ed against the dead ; his basest flatterers became, in course, his most envenomed calumniators, and his known enemies stood forth the expectant heirs of his power and favor. But 154 they were speedily taught their rashness and error. The apparent apathy of the king was no more than stateliness, or a sense of decorum, and it was thrown off the moment be retired to his private apartments ; sir Dudley Carleton, in the letter which announced the death of the duke to the queen, tells her that, " his majesty's grief was expressed to be more than great, by the many tears he hath shed for him."* No indication followed of any inclination on the part of Charles towards conciliating the people by a withdrawal from the high prerogative course in which h\§ minister. was supposed to have engaged him ; and in the next month, we find a court intel- ligencer transmitting to his correspondent the following re- port of the state of affairs. ** Some that observe the passages in court say the king seems as much affected to the duke's memory as he was to his person ; minding nothing so much for the present as the advancement of his friends and followers. And if any aceuse him in any thing whereof his majesty might take no- tice, he imputes it wholly to himself; or if in other matters, he answers, * The party durst not say so if the duke were alive.' Besides, he saith, ' Let not the duke's enemies seek to catch at* any of his offices, for they will find themselves deceived.' And whereas sir Ralph Clare and sir William Crof- tes, ever since they were turned out of their places in the privy chamber for opposing the duke in the second parliament of king Charles, have lyen within his majesty's house of St. James's, now, since the duke's death, his majesty hath ban- ished them thence also. His majesty since his death has been used to call him his martyr, and to say the world was much mistaken in him ; for whereas it was commonly thought he ruled his majesty, it was clean otherwise, having been his majesty's most faithful and obedient servant in all things ; as his majesty hereafter would make sensibly appear to all the world."! The same letter mentions further, that the lord chamber- lain had given orders to the heralds ^* to project as ample and stately a funeral as could be performed," to be at the king's cost, and that his majesty would also pay the duke's debts, amount- ing to 60,000/. It seems however that his debt had been con- tracted by his advances for the public service, and that the king performed no more than an act of justice in discharging^ * £Uu'0 Lettert, iii. p. 259. f Ibid. p. 262. ^ 165 it.* As for the funeral, on better advice, said to have been that of lord treasdrer Weston, who was probably perplexed to find the nooney, all the projected display was laid aside, and it was at length performed at ten o'clock at night, " in as poor and confused a manner," says a letter-writer, " as bath been seen; marching from Wallingford house over against Whitehall, to Westminster Abbey ; there being not much above an hundred mourners, who attended upon an empty coffin borne upon six men's shoulders ; the duke's corpse it* self being there interred yesterday ; as if it had been doubted the people in their madness would have surprised it. But to prevent all disorder, the trainbands kept a guard on both sides of the way, all along from Wallingford house to Westminster church, beating up their drums loud, and carrying their pikes and musquets upon their shoulders, as in a march, not trail- ing them at their heels, as is usual at a mourning. And as soon as the coffin was entered the church, they came away without giving any volley of shot at all."t It Is related that the lord treasurer, who had diverted his majesty from making a public funeral for the duke, by sug* gesting that it would be a more lasting honor to build him a monument, being reminded of his own project by the king, who had thoughts of putting it in execution, disconcerted that design also, by observing, that he should be loth to ac- quaint his majesty what would be said all over Christendom if be should erect a monument to the duke, before he had raised one to the king his father. Possibly Charles himself, who was not habitually profuse, might begin to be of opinion that further cost would be ill bestowed on the deceased, whose life had been expensive to the crown no less than to the peo- ple. From his first appearance at court, Buckingham had been pre-eminently distinguished for the pomp and splendor of every kind with which he affected to surround himself. He had studied in France the art of dress, and the gaiety and fashion of his apparel had greatly contributed to delight the eyes of king James. The amazing extravagance of his ward- robe and equipage on his French embassy has been already noticed. His jewels are said to have been underrated at his , death at 200,000/., and we have seen the testimony of Bas- sompierre to the unrivalled magnificence of his mansion and entertainments. Ignorant as he undoubtedly was of the * Clwcdon. t Ellis's Letters, iii. 264. 'K 156 letters, and probably of the arts, of Greece and Rome, he had formed a collection of antiques second only to that of the earl of Arundel ; and he had begun to make purchases of manu- scripts to be presented, as tokens of his munificence, to the university which had been compelled to choose him its chan- cellor. He was the first Englisiiman who drove a coach and six, and the first who used a sedan-cbair; a novelty which gave great offence to the people, who exclaimed that he put his fellow-creatures to the service of brutes* We happen to possess an inventory x)f the goods- of Robert earl of Leicester, the favorite of Elizabeth, which, opposed to the foregoing particulars, may afifbrd some grounds for an instructive comparison of times and persona. This noble- man, like Buckingham, died much involved in debt ; the whole of his personal property was valued at somewhat less than 30,000Z. His jewels and trinkets of every kind, ex- clusive of those appropriated to his countess, were estimated at 8000Z. Appar«l 1500Z. ; his best cloak 201., his best gown \6l. Plate 4700/. Armour, carriages and horses 2000Z. The furniture of his three houses, somewhat more than 11,000/. The expenses of his funeral were 4000/., whilst the estimate of that intended, but not performed, for Buck- ingham, was 40,000/. ; a difference, perhaps, nearly propor- tionate to all the rest. The interval of time between the deaths of the two was no more than forty years, but the in- crease of national wealth and the progress of luxury had been rapid. The grief of the king for the death of his favorite, however sincere, certainly did not interfere for an instant with his at- tention to public afiairs. On the very next day, the earl of Lindsey was appointed lord admiral, with a vice- and a.rear- admiral under him, and it was said,that by the presence and exertions of the king, more business was dispatched in a fort- night than the duke had transacted in two or three months. The fleet sailed on September 18th, but ill-equipped and ill-provisioned, and steered for La Rochelle, now reduced to extremity by famine. No French fleet appeared to oppose the English armament ; but the vast mole stretched across the harbour was by this time completed ; all attempts to break through it were found fruitless ; and even in sight of their al- lies, the wretched Hugonots were driven to the necessity of surrendering their town, with the famishing remnant of its brave and religious population, to the mercy of their bigoted and exasperated sovereign. The protestant people of England 157 deeply gympathized in the miseries of their brethren; mtny murmurs were heard against the cowardice or treachery of the earl of Denbigh, who had failed to succour the place while it was yet practicable. — But what better could have been expect* ed, it was asked, from the brother-in-law of Buckingham, who was cither himself a papist, or at least a favorer of papists 1 The French protestants, driven to despair by the rigor with which they found themselves treated after the loss of La Rochelle their tower of strength, made one more application to the *king of England for aid, in letters which, as they pathetically expressed themselves,- were written with their tears and their blood ; but a peace was now in agitation between the two courts, the French king would admit of no stipulations in favor of his rebellious subjects, and according to the usual fate of every sect or party which, finding itself the weakest at home, ventures on the perilous if not guilty expedient of calling in foreign aid, the power which for its own ends had encouraged them to resistance, now abandoned them without pity te their fate. Many indications evince that Buckingham, during the last months of his life, had regarded his position as one surrounded with perils. Vague presages of approaching evil had haunted the minds pf his nearest relations previously to his last journey to Portsmouth ; mysterious warnings to guard his life had reached him from various quarters, and during his encamp- ment on the Isle of Rh6, he declared to Dr. Mason, his con- fidential secretary, " whom he lodged in his own chamber,** says Wotton, ^^ for natural ventilation of bis thoughts," that the multiplicity of cares and solicitudes imposed upon him by his high and responsible offices as admiral and generalissimo in that important expedition, were yet light in comparison of the anguish which he endured from the ingratitude of some of his dependents, and his dread of intrigues against him in the court : Accordingly, some of bis latest steps were directed to gain adherents or conciliate opponents. He had been in- duced secretly to readmit Williams to his presence, brought him to kiss the king's hand, and promised him a renewal of favor, and in return, " had the bishop's consent, with a little asking, that he would be his grace's faithful servant in the next session of parliament ; and he was allowed to hold up a seem- ing enmity and his own popular estimation, that he might the sooner do the work."* But the gleam of favor which thus ♦ Hacket'« lAJt •/ FFttttam*, part ii. p. 80. Vot. L 19 158 broke upon the deprived lord keeper was brief and delusorj* Soon after the duke's death, some attempts which he made ta persuade the king to conciliate the puritans, roused afresh the jealousy of Laud, through whose intrigues he was once more disgraced^ and subjected to groundless and vexatio4is prosecu- tions in the star-chamber. But a more lasting accession to the ministry, and one which drew long consequences after it, was made about the same time in the person of sir Thomas Wentworth, whose formidable opposition thus gained what seems to have been from the first its real object. The duke* had been induced, apparently by the suspicion of some intrigue between Wentworth and Williams, to violate his former assur- ances of favor and protection to the Yorkshire baronet, who now, more wary, required from him something beyond pro- fessions as the price of his adherence ; and obtained, through the 'mediation of his friend lord treasurer Weston, a speci- fic assurance of speedy promotion to the office of lord-pre»- dent of the North. That amid these changes of men no change of principles bad been contemplated either by Buckingham or his master, the preferment of certain noted ecclesiastics gave evident proof. It had long been tbeir joint wish to translate Laud from the see of Bath and Wells to that of London, in the room of Mountain, whom the king judged unfit, from his indolence and voluptuousness, to preside in that city which was ^^ the retreat and receptacle of the grandees of the pu- ritan faction ;" and over which he desired to place, for ex- ample's sake, ** a bishop of such parts and power as they should either be unable to withstand or afraid to offend."* Various impediments however had delayed the completion of this arrangement ; Laud was already a privyrcounsellor, and by far the most potent ecclesiastic at court, but it was not till tbe middle of July 1628 that he was actually installed in his new dignity. In this capacity it was immediately his welcome office to assist in the consecration of Montague, who, in defiance of the recorded judgment of the legisla- ture, declaring him for ever incapable of church preferment, was nominated to the bishopric of Chichester ; " which ac- tion in the king," says Hejlyn, " seemed more magnani- mous than safe," on account of " the matter of exaspera- tion" which it would minister to the house of commons, from whom a subsidy was within a few months to be required. ♦ Heylyn's Life of Laud, p. 165. 159 A good living vacated by the new bishop was iniracdiately conferred on his fellow-culprit Manwarring, disabled by a similar sentence, which was followed by the deanery of Wor- cester and the bishopric of St. Davids. It is true that after the death of Buckingham, and immediately before the meet- ing of parliament, the king gave way to a few acts of a con- trary aspect. Archbishop Abbot was "sent for to court about Christmas, and from out of his barge received by the archbishop of York, and the earl of Dorset, and by them ac- companied to the king, who giving him his hand to kiss, enjoined him not to fail the council-table twice a week." Barnaby Potter a "thorough-paced Calvinian," but the king^s " ancient servant," was preferred to the bishopric of Carlisle ; and Montague's Appeal, after having been publish- ed three years and questioned in three parliaments ; the copies being all sold and dispersed, the author made a bishop, and many answers ready to appear, was at length called in ; without however any censure of its doctrine, but only as having been " the first cause of those disputes and diflferen- ces which have since so much troubled the church," and on which his majesty had forbidden more to be written on eith- er side. " Whether," adds the disciple and biographer of Laud, " his majesty did well in doing no more, if the book contained any false doctrine in it ; or in doing so much, if it were done only to please the parliament, I take not upon me to determine ; but certainly it never falleth out well with christian princes, when they make religion bend to policy, or think to gain their ends on men by doing such things as they are not plainly guided to by the light of conscience : And so it happened to his majesty at this time ; these two last actions being looked upon only as tricks of king-craft, done only out of a design forgetting him more love in the hearts of his people than before he had."* Such were the comments to which the double-dealing of Charles already subjected him, even from that party which had most cause to boast of his favor and protection ! Preparatory to the opening of the session, a select, or cab- ^inet-councii was held, in which the following plan of pro- ceedings was agreed upon. The ministerial members were to urge the speedy passing of a bill for tonnage and pound- age, granting these duties to his majesty from the beginning of his reign ; and the king, if necessary, was to declare that ♦ Lift of Laud, p. 1S5. 160 he had hitherto levied them not of right, but as a matter of expediency; but should this fail to satisfy the house, and it should be moved, ** with any strength/' that goods illegally seized from merchants who had refused payment of these impositions, be first restored to them, a breach should be avowed ^^ upon just cause given, and not sought by the king." So in other points : should the commons attack the memory of the duke, or accuse the king's ministers upon common fame, or charge them with giving evil counsels to his majesty; or " handle questions touching religion, proper for his majesty and a conrocation to determine, or raise objections against his majesty's speech the last day of the last session, as iVench- Ing upon the liberty of the subject, in these and the like cases," should the government members fail in their utmost efforts to persuade a good agreement between his majesty and the parliament, and the house should ^^ draw towards a re- solution" upon any of these particulars, ** that the members who were privy councillors should intimate that these debates would not be allowed of, and would tend to a breach, and that the king should thereupon declare " that he will not suf- fer such irregular courses of proceeding."* In other words, the king was to begin with taking a moderate tone, but upon the least opposition, was rather to recur again to an abrupt dissolution than depart from his arbitrary pretensions or ille- gal practices. The parliament met ; their first inquiry was, whether the petition of right, with the royal assent, had been duly enroll- ed according to his promise? It was discovered on search that the act was indeed enrolled, but with the king's first evasive answer, in place of his legal assent, and that his ma- jesty's speech on the last day of the session, by which its provisions were all invalidated, had also been appended. The king's printer being summoned and examined, pleaded his majesty's own commands through the attorney-general for the suppression of one edition which had been printed with Ae second answer, and for the addition complained of. Roused by this disclosure of royal perfidy, the house next in- quired mto the actual violations of the fundamental rights as- serted by this law which had been already perpetrated.' MenUon was now made of a command sent to the sheriff not to execute a replevin when goods and merchandise had been unlawfully taken irom men who had refused tonnage *** Rushworth. I « 161 and poundage, and of the seizure in particular, of property belonging to a merchant named Rolls, a member of the house, to whom some officers of the customs had gone so far as to say : " If the whole parliament were in you, we would take your goods." A committee was immediately appointed which summoned the-officers before it ; but the king interposed for their protection by avowing the act as performed under his own special direction. Charles now thought it time to assemble the two houses at Whitehall, where he made the preconcerted declaration, that he had not taken these duties as appertaining to his hereditary prerogative ; and having thus, as he said, cleared the only scruple which could trouble them in this business, he required them to pass the bill for granting tonnage and poundage in the same manner as they had been held by his an- cestors ; taking at the same time some merit to himself that he had not immediately resented their inquiry into the violent acts of his officers. " This," he added, " I have spoken to show you how slow I am to believe harshly of your proceedings, likewise to assure you, that the house's reso- lutions,. not particular men's speeches, shall make me judge well or ill ; not doubting but according to my example you will be deaf to ill reports concerning me, till my words and actions speak for themselves, that so this sessions begin- ning with confidence towards one another, it may end with a perfect good- understanding between us, which God grant."* This speech was immediately followed up by a royal mes- . sage through secretary Cook, to hasten the bill, inforced by an intimation, "that moderation in their proceedings would be a great advantage to them." But the house, " being trou- bled to have the bill imposed upon them, which ought naturally to arise from themselves," resolved " to husband their time ;'* and empowered their committee to examine further into vio- lations of liberty and property since the Inst session, after which they were to proceed with matters of religion, and particularly against the sect of Arminians. Notwithstan ding repeated interruptions by royal messages, Mr. Pyra proceed- ed to offer to the consideration of the house, first, the impu- nity and encouragement granted to papists, and the violatiA of law by the introduction of popish and superstitious cere- monies into the church, particularly by Cozens t)ishopof Durham ; secondly, the doctrines inconsistent with the Ar- « Rathworth, i. 656. 16* tides, introduced by Arminians. ** Let us show," said he, ^' wherein these late opinions are contrary to those settled truths, and what men have been since preferred that have pro- fessed those heresies ; what pardons they have had for false doctrine, what prohibiting of books and writings against their doctrine, and permitting of such books as have Jbeen for them : Let us inquire after the abettors. Let us inquire also after the pardons granted of late to some of these, and the presumption of some that dare preach the contrary to truth before his majesty. It belongs to the duty of parlianient to establish true religion and punish false Our parlia- ments have confirmed general councils For the convo- cation, it is but a provincial synod of the province of Canter- bury, and cannot bind the whole kingdom. As for York, that is distant, and cannot do anything to bind us or the laws ; for the High-commission, it was derived from parliament." Af- terwards, sir John Eliot enlarged upon the danger of admit- ting, what had lately been asserted in a royal declaration, of which Laud was the author, the right of the bishops and clergy in convocation to decree all matters of outward regu- lation in the church, and determine controversies concerning the interpretation of the Articles, by which, he remarked, ^' popery and Arminiantsm may be introduced by them, and then it must be received by all." The bouse, in testimony of its hostility to the new doc- trine and still more perhaps to the assumed authority by which it was sought to establish it, now entered intO; a solemn vow, declaring its " adherence to the sense of the articles of re- ligion settled in the 13th year of Elizabeth, delivered to them by the public act of the church of England, and by the gene- ral and concurrent expositions of the writers of the church ;" and their rejection of the sense of the Jesuits and Arminians and all others, in as far as they differed from these. As a further manifestation of their religious sentiments, both houses concurred in petitioning his majesty to appoint a day of fasting on account of the distressed state of the protestant churches abroad. Charles bluntly replied, that fighting would do them niore good than fasting, yet he did not wholly disal- Ifcw of the other ;- that he would now grant their request, though he did not perceive the necessity of it, and would not haVe it drawn into a precedent for frequent fasts, except on great occasions. This language was doubtless intended to intimate to parliament, that religious concerns should be left. to the care of the king and his bishops. The parliament, on y 163 the other hand, offered him a declaration, intended to shovr the cxpedieacy of giving religion the precedency of all other affairs ; but with this his majesty's answer showed him much displeased. Nevertheless, the house, having already repres«nt- ed to the kipg, that his frequent messages were a hindrance to their business, ^nd often a violation of their privileges, went on in its own course. The barons of the exchequer had been wrought upon to give a judgment for the Crown against the merchants who had refused tonnage and poundage, and in consequence they had suffered new oppressions, which now became the subject of discussion. Mr. Rolls stated that since his last complaint his warehouse had been locked up by a pursuivant, and that he himself was called out from a committee and served with a subpcma to appear in the star-chamber. Smart debates en- sued ; it was voted that a breach of privilege had been com- mitted, and the officer who had carried the subpcma was call- ed up. The attorney-general had apologized for the act as a mistake, but it was now proved before the house that he had himself directed the process, and that in the bill before the exchequer the merchants were said to plot, practise and combine against the peace of the kingdom. Several other merchants presented petitions complaining of the seizure of their goods, and of informations laid against them In the star-chamber ; and the committee inclined to require restitu- tion to be made to them before there should be any proceed- ing in the bill for tonnage and poundage ; Mr. Noy in partic- ular thus expressing himself: We cannot give unless we be in possession and the proceedings in the exchequer nullified ; as also the informations in the star-chamber, and the annex- ation to the petition of right; for it will not be a gift^ but a confirmation ; neither will I give without the removal of these interruptions, and a declaration in the bill that the king hath no right but by our free gift ; If it will not be accepted as it is fit for us to give, we cannot help it ; if it be the king's already, we do not give it."* As a step towards restoring the due course of justice, the sheriff of London was committed to the Tower for refusing- to replevin seized goods, and the barons of the exchequer were sent for and required to make void their order concern- ing the detention of merchandise ; and on their returning an answer by which they showed themselves more inclined to * Rushworth, .1.666. 164 persist in a decision which they yet dared not affirm to be legal, than to offer satisfaction for it, a motion was made to take their conduct into consideration, and to inquire whether there was any precedent for it. Some farmers of the cus* toms were also called in question for their delinq^ncy in the affair of Mr. Rolls, whose only plea of defen6e was, ignorance of the privileges of parliament ; but as the housii were about to pass sentence upon them, secretary Cook notified from his majesty that all they had done was by his direction, so that his act could not be severed from theirs, nor punished with- out his great dishonor. Hereupon the house adjourned in high indignation. On resuming, a report of the committee of religion was received concerning the pardons granted to Montague and other obnoxious divines, of which Neil bishop of Winchester was found to have been an active promoter. It was this de- bate which first introduced into parliamentary history the name of Oliver Cromwell ; who represented the bbhop as a countenancer of some who preached *^ flat popery," adding, ** If these be the steps to church preferment, what are we to expect T" A petition from the London printers and booksellers, com- plaining of the licensing of Arminian books and the restrain- ing of those opposed to them by bishop Laud, who, with his chaplains, had engrossed the office of licensmg; and also showing, that some of their number had been summoned by pursuivants for printing books against popery,— -called up Selden ; who observed that there was no law in England against the printing of any books, but only a decree in star- chamber ; and he went on to recommend that a law should be made concerning printing ; otherwise a man might be fin- ed, imprisoned, and his goods taken from htm by virtue of that decree, which was a great invasion of the liberty of the subject.* An inquiry into the circumstances tinder which certain Romish priests and Jesuits, after detection and apprehensicMi, bad been dismissed with impunity, supplied a fresh example of the king's contempt for the laws, and of the daring manner in which he authorized various public functionaries to plead his immediate authority and commands as a protection against the consequences of all irregular and arbitrary acts. On March 2nd, the bouse having reassembled after an ad- * Roahworth, i. 667. 165 journment imposed upon them by the king's command, thai distinguished pfatriot sir John Eliot addressed to them a speech containing the following passages : ^' The misfortunes we suffer are many ; Arminianism undermines us ; popcrj comes in upon us. They mask not in strange disguises, but expose themselves to the view of the world. In the search of these, we have fixed our eyes not on the actors, the Jesuits and priests^ but upon their masters, those who are in authority :....,.* You have some prelates who are their abettors ; the great bishop of Winchester ; we know what he hath done to fiivor them. This fear extends to some others ; the lord-treasurer, in whose person all evil is contracted, both for the innovation of our religion, and the invasion of our liberties ; he is a great enemy of the commonwealth. I have traced him in all his actions, and I find him building on the grounds laid by his master the great duke : he is secretly moving for this inters ruption. And from this fear they go about to break parlia- ments, lest parliaments should break them. I find him the head of all that party, the papists ; and all the Jesuits and priests derive from him their shelter and protection. And I , protest, as I am a gentleman, if my fortune shall be ever again to meet in this honorable assembly, where I now leave^ 1 shall begin again**** By this threatened attack upon bishops and ministers of state, the bounds to parliamentary liberty secretly laid down by the king and his most confidential advisers were passed ; and the Speaker rising, announced that he wasihe bearer of a royal message for adjournment. Eliot offered, notwitb«- standing, a remonstrance respecting tonnage and poundage ; I ' and it was contended by the popular party, that it was not the ' business of the Speaker, an ofi&cer of the house, to deliver such a message, and that properly, adjournment belonged not to the king, but to the house itself. Accordingly, it was again moved to put the remonstrance to the question ; but the Speaker, pleading the royal command, refused. " Dare you not, Mr* Speaker,'* asked the illustrious Selden, " put the question when we command you ? If you will not put it, we must sit iitill ; thus we shall never be able to do any thing. They that come after you may say, they have the king's command not to do it. We sit here by the command of the king under the great seal ; and you arc by his majesty, sitting in his royal chair before both houses, appointed for our V ♦ Crew'a ProetetUngt of CommoMf p. 145. Vol. I. 20 166 Speaker, and now you refuse to do your office.*'* The Speaker, trembling, pleaded again his majesty's command that he should leave the chair after delivering his message ; and he attempted to rise, but was held down by Mr. HoUis and Mr. Valentine : Strange confusion arose : sir Thomas Edmonds and other adherents of the court, struggled, but in rain, to set him free. He wept and supplicated, but still refused to obey the orders of the house : " I do not say I will not," he sobbed out, " I dare not Do not command my ruin. I dare not sin against the command of my sover- eign." Selden pleaded and argued with him, but to no purpose. Mr. Peter Hayman told him " he was sorry he was his kins- man, for that he was the disgrace of his country, and a blot upon a noble family ; that all the inconveniences that should follow, yea, their destruction, should be derived to posterity as the issue of bis baseness, by whom he should be remember- ed with scorn and disdain ; and that he, for his part, since he would not do his duty, thought he should be called to the bar, and a new speaker chosen." But nothing could change the determination of the Speaker ; and it was Hollis there- fore who undertook to read, for the concurrence of the bouse, a protestation, that whoever introduced innovations in religion, and whoever advised the levy of tonnage and poundage with- out parliament, should be reputed a public enemy ; and that all who submitted to these impositions should likewise be held enemies' and betrayers of the liberties of England. Whilst these articles were preparing, which passed by acclamation, the king, hearing of the refusal of the commons to obey his command of adjournment, sent the gentleman usher of the house of lords to carry away the mace from the table ; but he found the door locked against him. Charles, in fury, sent or- ders to the captain of the pensioners of the guard to force it open ; but the house, having passed their protestation, prevent- ed, by a voluntary adjournment, the meditated violence and the mischief which, at a time when all gentlemen wore weap- ons, could scarcely have failed to ensue. During the ad- journment, the members principally concerned in these transactions, Hollis, Eliot, Yalentioe, Curriton, Selden, Ho- bart and a few others, received summonses to appear be- fore the council ; and the four first, presented themselves, but refusing to answer out of parliament for any thing tran»* acted in it, they were committed close prisoners to the Tow- * Rushworih, i. 670. r 167 er, and a proclamation was issued for the apprehension of the rest ; the studies of several amongst them being; also sealed up. On March 10th, 1629, the day to which the commons had adjourned, the king went in state to the house of lords, and without requiring the attendance of the lower house, dissoked the parliament with the following characteristic sentences. *^ My lords ; I never came here upon so unpleasant an oc- casion, it being fhe dissolution of a parliament ; therefore men may have some cause to wonder why I should ftot rather choose to do this by commission, it being a general maxim of kings to leave harsh commands to their minister, themselves only executing pleasing things ; yet considering that justice as well consists in reward and praise of virtue as punishingof vice, I thought it necessary to come here to day, and declare to you and all the world, that it was merely the undutiful and sedi- tious carriage in the lower house that hath made the dissolu- tion of this parliament ; and you, my lords, are so far from being any causers of it, that I take as much comfort in your dutiful demeanor, as I am justly distasted with their proceed- ings : yet to avoid their mistakings, let me tell you that it is so far frop me to adjudge all the house alike guilty, that I know there are many there as dutiful subjects as any in the world ; it being but some few vipers among them that did cast this mist of undutifulness over most of their eyes ; yet to say truth, there was a good number there that could not be infected with this contagion ; insomuch that some did express their duties in speaking, which was the general fault of the house the last day. To conclude, as these vipers must look for their reward of punishment, so you, my lords, must justly ex- pect from me that favor and protection that a good king ow- eth to his loving and faithful nobility.'** The parliament was then dissolved by proclamation. The next step was, to ascertain how far the judges could be induced to lend themselves to the schemes of royal ven- geance against the parliamentary leaders ; and towards the end of April, the attorney-general proposed to them the fol- lowing questions. Whether any subject having received pro- bable information of any treason or treacherous attempt against the king or state, ought not to make it known to th6 king or his commissioners, and whether his refusal to be ex- amined, or to answer questions in such a case, be not a high * Rushworth, i. 672. 168 contempt punisliable in the star-chamber 1 Answer ; That it ii an offence punishable, provided it do not concern himself, and that his answering would bring him into, danger. — Whether it were a good excuse or answer to say, that he re- ceived such information in parliament, being a parliament roan, and that parliament being ended, he would answer sueh questions in no other place 1 This, the judges privately in- formed the attorney-general, was in the nature of a plea, and was not punbhable till he were overruled in an orderly way to make smother answer. — ^Wbether or no a member of par- liament committing an offence against the king and council not in a parliamentary way, might afterwards be punished for it 1 The judges here took a very subtile distinction ; — ^for things don^ in a parliamentary way, they agreed that he could not be punished, but that he might, ^' where things are done exorbitantly, for those are not the acts of a court,'' and parliament should not give privilege to any, contrary to the custom of parliament, to exceed the limits of his place and duty. To the question whether, — if one, or two, or three members only, should covertly conspire to raise false rumours and slanders against the lords of the council and judges, not with intent to question them in a legal course, but in order to bring them into hatred of the people, and the government into contempt, that were punishable in the star-chamber after the parliament was ended ? They answered, that it was ** an offence exhorbitant," and beyond the duty of a parlia- ment man. — To the question. Whether if a parliament roan should say, by way of digression, that the council and judges agreed to trample upon the liberty of the subject and the privileges of parliament, — words uttered by sir John Eliot, — it were punishable 1 They declined to answer, because it concerned themselves.* The judges appear to have advised the attorney-general to proceed against the prisoners not in the star-chamber, where they could have no counsel, but in the court of king's bench, where a less iniquitous form of tiial prevailed. In fact, though these magistrates wanted the virtue to declare the law boldly and plainly, at the hazard of the king's displeasure and its heavy consequences, they painfully felt both the disgrace and the danger which they incurred by being thus compelled to exhibit themselves to the whole nation in the character of counsel for the crown against the liberties of the people. * Rushworth, i. 673. 160 " My father," says the sob of jadge Whitelock, *' did often and highly complain against this way of sending to the judges for their opinions beforehand ; and said that if bishop Laud went on in this way, he would kindle a flame in the nation."^ The prisoners having raoved for their habeas corpus^ the judgesi *^ somewhat perplexed/' '^ wrote an humble and stout letter to the king, that by their oaths they were to bail the prisoners ; bqt thought fit, before th'^y did it, or published tj^eir opinions therein, to inform his majesty thereof, and hum- bly to advise him, as had been done by bis noUe progenitor^ in like case, to send a direction to the judges of his bench to bail the prisoners/'f But so little was his majesty inclined to grant to these patriot leaders their undoubted right, even under the guise of a favor, that having ordered the judges of the king's bench to attend him at Greenwich, he expressed his displeasure at their determination, and commanded them not to proceed without a reference to the rest of the twelve : These, thinking fit to hold consultations and hear arguments on the case, the business was delayed till the end of the term, when, the court of king's bench being at length ready to de- liver its judgment, his majesty caused the prisoners to be re- moved from other places of confinement to the. Tower, and having by this base device prevented them from making their personal appearance, without which the court refused to bail them, they were detained in close custody during the whole of the long vacation. By a letter to the judges under his own hand, Charles assigned as the cause of this fresh rigor, the ** having heard how most of them, a while since, did carry themselves insolently and unmannerly, both towards us and towards your lordships," and an unwillingness to ^^ afford them favor tili we should find their temper and discretions to be such as may deserve it." It was however promised in this letter that Selden and Valentine should, out of respect to the court, be permitted to appear ; but a second letter three hours after, retracted the concession, on more mature deliberation, and joined them with their brother-confessors. :j: At the opening of Michaelmas term, the prisoners having been already thirty weeks in close custody, denied the sight of their nearest friends, and the use of books and pen and ink, the king sent for chief-justice Hyde and judge Whitelock to Hampton Court, and declared himself contented that they should be bailed, notwithstanding their obstinacy in refusing * Wbittlock'8 MMiorids, p. 13. 1 Ibid, p. 14. | Rushworlb, 1 690, 691. 170 to present a petition declaring their sorrow to have offended him. He also seemed to acquiesce in their judgment, ** though it was not to his mind/' that by law the offence was not capital and the prisoners ought to be bailed. *' He would never," he said, ^* be offended with his judges, so that they did not speak oracles, or riddles," and they both used their endeavors to persuade him "to heal this breach." The next day the sufferers were informed that th«ir bail would be taken, on their giving security for good behaviour. Belden, for himself and the rest, refused to comply with this condition, now first propounded, as a4htng unreasonable and irregular, and one to which they could not submit without great offence to the parliament. On this, they were all remanded to the Tower. Soon after, the subserviency of the judges having been sufficiently ascertained, the attorney-general stopped pro- ceedings in the star-chamber, and' exhibited informations against them in the king's bench, but to these, as having re- ference to things done in parliament, they refused to 'plead before an inferior tribunal ; the court, however, by what must be styled a deliberate act of usurpation, decided in favor of its own jurisdiction ; sentenced them all, on a nihil dint, to im- prisonment during the king's pleasure, and fined three of them severely. The check of a popular representation bein^, as it was hop-i ed, permanently removed, the vengeance of the court now fell also with an overwhelming weight on the unfortunate mer- chants who had rendered themselves obnoxious by their re- sistance to the payment of tonnage and poundage. Alder- man Chambers, one of the principal among them, after un- dergoing seizure of his goods and various other oppressions from the inferior officers of the customs, had been at length summoned to a hearing before the privy council : in the course of his examination, a sense of intolerable injury mov- ed him to exclaim, *• that in no part of the world were mer- chants so screwed up as in England, — in Turkey they had more encouragement." And for this speech, which though uttered only to the council, and not divulged among the peo- ple, was yet accounted libellous, he was brought before the star-chamber and unanimously sentenced to a fine which the principal members of the administration, and especially bi- shops Laud and Neil, would have carried as high as S0002. ; whilst smaller sums, down to 5002.^ were proposed by others ; but it was finally fixed at no less than 20002. By the votes of all excepting the two chief justices, he was further requir- 171 ed to sign a humble submission, acknowledging his fault; but to this paper he had the spirit to subscribe, that he did *^ utterly abhor and detest the contents as inost unjust and false." His fine was immediately estreated ; and for not sub- mitting himself to bis sentence, atrociously iniquitous as it was, he suflfered six years imprisonment,- to the utter ruin of his fortunes. By these examples, every kind of irregular and arbitrary jurisdiction in the kingdom was emboldened to attempt fresh encroachments; but' they were not allowed by the sufferers to pass unquestioned, and in a variety of different forms one great question was brought to issue : Whether or not the sal- utary mle of law should be swallowed up and lost in the ex- ceptions of prerogative 1 Philip earl of Montgomery, a weak and choleric nobleman^ took upon him, in his office of lord-chamberlain^ to commit one Atkinson^ for having sued, without his permission, a ser- Tant of the king's ; and after his liberation by habeas carpus be committed him again ; ^' in contempt of the court and ad- miration of all wise men." Three of the judges, uninflu- enced by the refusal of chief-justice Hyde, gave a warrant for a new habeas corpus in this case, ^'but before the return of it, the lord chamberlain, upon wiser thoughts, discharged Jktkinson from prison."* Huntley, a clergyman in Kent, having failed to preach at a visitation, though required so to do, first by his archdeacon and afterwards by letters from the archbishop, was for these contempts summoned before the high commission, heavily fined, and thrown into jaiL After long confinement, be sued out his habeas corpus^ and the cause of his committal being returned, ^' default in bis canonical obedience,'' he was delivered by the judges ; because this ofience was only pun- ishahle by the ecclesiastical censures of the ordinary, and not by the high commission, nor by fine and imprisonment. On this, Huntley brought his action of false imprisonment against the jailor and several of the commissioners by name> . and the court of king's bench decided that two of the com- missioners should give bond to answer the charge. But the archbishop, with whom the. wrong, or error, had originated, prevaUed on the king, by the interposition of Laud, to send to the judges to stay proceedings. After consulting toge- ther, the judges informed the lord keeper and the bishop, that .*Whitelock, p. 13. 172 i ftn indefinite delay of justice between, party and party was contrary to law and their oaths. The high commissioners^ alarmed with reason at the extent of the legal responsibility ] to which they might thus become exposed, sought shelter, as usual, behind the throne ; and Charles was induced to sum* mon the judges before him, and in presence of the lord keep- i cr and others to lay his absolute command upon them, ** not < to put the defendants to answer." They *' stoutly" replied, *^ that they could not without breach of their oaths perform that command ; and so they parted in displeasure." The af- fair was then brought before the council, and after a long and warm debate, the honorable perseverance of the judges gained its end, and it was determined that the commissioners should be held responsible for unwarrantable exertions of the dangerous authority entrusted to them. Bir Henry Martyn, judge of the admiralty, complained to the king of the judges for granting prohibitions against the jHt>ceedings of his court ; and in this instance also they ^' mannerly and stoutly," in the royal presence, justified their proceedings as ^^ according to law, and as their oaths bound them." But, deprived of the protection, or released from the con- trol of parliaments, the sages of the law opposed by degrees less and less resistance to the advancing strides of arbitrary power : Eminent lawyers, such as Noy and Littleton, were gained over to the measures of the court ; no appeal to pub- < lie opinion could be made through a press enchained by the licenser ;— ^and to the cries and struggles of assaulted Liberty succeeded a long trance of indignation or terror, which the satellites of power have applauded as submission and cele- brated as felicity. Meantime, the imprisoned members of parliament, with only a single exception, were generously earning the grati- tude of their country by a persevering refusal to enter into the bond /or good behaviour which would at any time have procured their immediate release; regarding it as an evil precedent, a snare, and an injury to the rights and privileges of the English people. The consequences of this firmness to themselves were various. Selden's final release, after suc- cessive mitigations of his captivity, which at last rendered it little more than nominal, was e£fected, at the distance of two years and a half from his first committal, through the inter- cession of two noblemen, who pleaded that they required his professional services to conclude an important law-suit in 173 which he had formerly been consulted. Hollis, after twelve months* close custody in the tower, regained his liberty with difficulty. None were dismissed till after long and severe im* pHsonment, but, sooner or lattr, deliverance was granted to all, excepting Eliot, whom the monarch regarded with pecu* liar indignation as the ringleader ; — a person of whose life, character, and sentiments, ample records have fortunately been preserved for the instruction of postcrityk John Elioty only son of a gentleman of family and fortune^ was born at his father's seat of Port Eliot in Cornwall in 1590, educated at Oxford and one of the inns of cdurt, knighted by king James and' elected to his last parliament and the first of Charles by the borough of Newport* In the second parliament of Charles he sat for 8t. Germains, but having greatly distinguished himself in the bouse> was in the next returned for the county of Comwail. At an early period of his life, the warmth of his tempera^ ment impelled him to an act of ferocity. In the midst of a dispute he drew his sword upon a gentleman his neighbor of the name of Moyle, and slightly wounded him* But on his repentance and acknowledgment he was forgiven, and the cordial friendship which subsisted between them ever after, speaks loudly in praise of both.* On the parliamentary conduct of Eliot it is superfluous here to enlarge. That the strain of passionate eloquence * The misrepresentations of this fact which have obtained currency Induci me to subjoin an extract from an original letter on this subject now in my pos- session, written by a most respectable Cornish gentleman nained Trehawke in the year 1767. " The fact, as related to me- by Mr. Moyle's own daughter, stood thus^ Sir John Eliot when young had been extravagant in his expenses, so that Mr. Moyle thought it friendly to acquaint his father with his son's conduct, and this being represented to the young gentleman With some exag* gerating circumstances, he hastily went to Mr. Moyle's house (two miles from his own). What; words past, l" know not, but sir John drew his sword and made a thrust at Mr. Moyle, but it being against his ribs,' the hurt was slight. However, that being more than sir John knew, and there being no time for talking after what was done, sir John fled. On reflection, he soon detested the fact, and from thenceforward became as remarkable for his private deport- ment in ©very view of it as his public conduct. Mr. Moyle was so entirely reconciled to him that no person of his time held him in higher esteem, i have an original paper before me which I conceive refers to this transaction. It runs in these words. * I do acknowledge to have done you a great injury, which I wish I had never done, and do desire yoU to remit it, and that all un- kindness may be forgiven and forgotten betwedh us, and henceforward 1 shall desire and deserve your love in all friendly ofiices, as I hope you will mine.' Subscribed J. Eliot, directed to Mr. Moyle without date, and signed m the presence of and attested by Grenvil and many other gentlemen." Amongst the Eliot papers I have found a copy of, this acknowledgment, and also some letters written during Eliot's imprisonment, which prove th« friendship then existing between the parties. Vol. I. 21 174 whicb pervades Bis speeches flowed from the pure source of public virtue ; — ^in particular that the vehemence with which he, beyond all the rest, inveighed against the corruption of Buckingham^ his malversation in his high office, and th^ arro- gance with which he assumed upon the royal favor, was prompted by no private pique or private ends, many circum- stances fully warrant us in concluding : The constant esteem in which he was held by the best men of his own party, — the unrelenting persecution exercised against him by the king, — the magnanimous firmness with which he refused to purchase his liberty, his health, his life, by base petitions and baser acknowledgments of fault where he was guiltless, — and above all, the noble, the calm and the pious strain of the let- ters which during his tedious captivity he addressed, some- times by stealth, to the objects of his tenderest love and the sharers of his inmost thoughts. In these we behold the re- flection of a mind- of the first erder in morals, combined with very considerable intellectual powers and accomplishments ; and as far as the intentions of a party are to be estimated by the principles and sentiments of one of its leaders, certainly they may be considered as forming an important document for the justification of the opposers of the court in the long parliament In a letter which Eliot contrived to address to his sons by stealth, at the end of four months of such close custody that, as he says, his feelings towards them could have " no other expression than his prayers,*' after some fatherly and religious exhortations to them, adverting to his own situation involved in a course of " sufferings of which there is yet no end,'* — he thus displays the temper of his soul, and the con- solations of religion and philosophy by which it was sustained, " Should these evils be complained ? Should I make lamentation of these crosses ? Should I conceive the worse of my condition that my adversities oppose me ? No, I may not ; (and yet I will not be so stoical as not to think them evils, I will not do that prejudice to virtue by detraction of her adversary ;) they are evils, so I do confess them, but of that nature, and so followed, so neighboring upon good, as they are no cause of sorrow but of joy : seeing whose enemies they make us: Enemies of fortune, enemies of the world, enemies of their children : And to know for whom we suflTer ; for Hirii that is their enemy, for him that can command them, whose agents only and instruments they are to work his trials m us, which may render us more perfect 175 and acceptable to himself. Should thes5 infuse a sorrow which are the true touches of His favor» and not affect us ra- ther with higher apprehensions of our happiness 1 Amongst my many obligations to my God, which prove the infinity of his mercies, that like a full stream have been always flowing on me, there is none concerning this life wherein I have found more pleasure or advantage than in these trials and afflic- tions : — (nay, I may not limit it so narrowly within the con- fines of this life, which I hope shall extend much further ;) the operations they have had, the new effects they work, the discoveries they make upon ourselves, upon others, upon all, showing the scope of our intentions, the sum of our en- deavors, the strength of all our actions to be vanity. And how can it then but leave an impression upon our heartl^ that we are nearest unto happiness when we are furthest off from them, I mean the vain inventions of this world, the fruitless labors and endeavors that they move, from which nothing so faithfully delirers us as the crosses and afflictions that we meet ; those mastering checks and contraventions that like torrents break all outward hopes 1 Nay, this speculation of the vanity of this world does not only show a happiness in those crosses by the exemption which we gain ; but infers a further benefit in that nearer contemplation of ourselves : Of what we do consist, what original we had, to what end we were directed ; and in this we see whose image is upon us, and where we do belong; what materials we are of ; that, besides the body (which only is obnoxious to these troubles,) the better part of our composition is the soul, whose freedom is not subject to any authority without us, but depends wholly on the disposition of the Maker, who framed it for himself, and therefore gave it dispositions incompatible of all power and dominion but his own. This happiness I confess, in all the trials I have had, has never parted from me,. (how great then is his favor by whose mercy I have enjoyed it 1) the days have all seemed pleasant, nor night has once been tedious ; no fears, no terrors have possessed me, but a constant peace and tranquillity of the mind, whose agitation has been chief- ly in thanks and acknowledgments to Him, by whose grace I have subsisted, and shall yet I hope participate of his bles- sings upon you. " I have the more enlarged myself in this that you might have a right view of the condition which I suffer, least from a bye relation, as through a perspective not truly representing, some false sense might be contracted," &c. (Dated Tower, July 8th, 1629.) 176 Amongst the friends of Eliot the most congenial and affec- tionate was Hampden. He performed much of the duty of a guardian, and expressed an affection almost paternal to- wards the sons of his incarcerated friend, and from the cor- respondence between them sereral interesting particulars of the state and treatment of the prisoner may be collected. The,caution with which political subjects are touched, and of- ten unequivocal expressions, prove that their letters were fre- quently exposed to inspection. Sometimes late or future vi- sits of Hampden to the Tower are referred to, at other times this intercourse was interrupted. We know from different sources, that after a time the rigor of Eliot's confinement was somewhat mitigated, on account of the declining state of his health, and in one letter his friend says, *' You enjoy as much as without contradiction you may, the liberty of a prison.'' The captive deceived the time with literary pursuits, some- times with philosophical disquisitions, sometimes with a work on government, entitled the ** Monarchy of Man," and all his manuscripts were duly submitted to the critical judgment of his accomplished friend. Books were supplied to him both by Hampden and by another of his correspond- ents, the learned Richard James, librarian to sir Robert Cotton. Sometimes reports of an approaching parliament would flat- ter himself and his friends with hopes of a near deliverance ; at other times attempts were made to bend his spirit to sub- mission by a renewal of severity. At Christmas 1631 he thus writes to Hampden. ^* That I write not to you anything of intelligence, will be excused when I do let you know that I am under a new re* straint, by warrant from the king, for. a supposed abuse of li- berty in admitting a free resort of visitants, and under that color holding consultations with my friends. My lodgings are removed, and I am now where candle-light may be suf- fered; but scarce fire. I hope you will think that this ex- change of places makes not a change of minds. The same protector is still with mfe, and the same confidence, and these things can have end by Him that gives them being. None but my servants, hardly my sons, may have admittance to me. My friends I must desire for their own sakes to forbear com- ing to the Tower : you among them are chief, and have the first place in this intelligence. " I have now leisure, and shall dispose myself to business, therefore those loose papers which you had I would cast out of the way, being now returned again unto me. In your 177 next give m« a word or two of note ; for those translations^ you excepted at, you know we are blind towards ourselves, our friends must be our glasses, therefore in this I crave (what in all things I desire) the reflection of your judgment, and rest," &c. (Tower, 26th December, 1631.) In this state of cruel durance, shut up from the sight of children and friends, and deprived of common comforts, this martyr of patriotism patiently beheld his life brought to an untimely end. His last extant letter to Hampden, written in the following May, describes the state of bodily suffering and feebleness to which he had been brought by an illness of which cold was the original cause ; he was then hoping, with the self-flattery of the consumptive, to receive benefit by the air and exercise which he had begun to take. This could only have been however within the precincts of his prison ; further indulgence, as we learn, though not from his own pen, was denied, except on terms which his spirit to the last dis- dained. The following letter of an unknown writer gives the con- cluding circumstances of his life. "A gentleman not unknown to Sir Thomas Lucy, told me from my lord Cottington's mouth, that sir John Eliot's late manner of proceeding was this. He first presented a petition to his majesty by the hand of the lieutenant his keep- er, to this effect : "•' Sir, your judges have committed me to prison here in your Tower of London, where, by reason of the quality of. the air, I am fallen into a dangerous disease. I humbly be- seech your majesty you will command your judges to set me at liberty, that for recovery of my health I may take some fresh air,' &c. &c. " Whereunto his majesty's answer was, it was not hum- ble enough. Then sir John sent another petition by his owa son to the effect following. * Sir, I am heartily sorry I have displeased your majesty, and having so said, do humbly beseech you once again to set me at liberty, that when I have recover- ed my health, I may return back to my prison, there to undergo such punishment as God hath allotted unto me,' &c. &c. Upon this the lieutenant came and expostulated with him, saying it was proper to him, and common to none else, to do * The word translation was at this time used in its Latin sense of meta- phor, which is probably its meaning here. The style of Eliot was flowery. 178 tbat office of delivering petitions for bis prisoners. And if sir John in a third petition would humble himself to his ma- jesty in acknowledging bis fault and craving pardon, he would willingly deliver it, and made no doubt but he should obtain his liberty. Unto this sir John's answer was ; * I thank you, sir, for your friendly advice : but my spirits are grown feeble and faint, which when it shall please God to restore unto their former vigor, I will take it further into my consideration.' Sir John dying not long after, his son petitioned his majesty once more, he would be pleased to permit his body to be car- ried into Cornwall, there to be buried. Whereto was answer- ed ^t the foot of the petition : * Let sir John Eliot's body be buried in the church of that parish where he died.' And so it was buiied in the Tower."* • Had. MSS. 7000, fol. 186. as q«oted by lord Nugent in his Memorials of Hampden. — ^The foregoinff extracts from the correspondence of sir John Eliot are taken from the originals preserved in the Eliot famHy, for the loan of which I acknowledge with gratitude my obligations to the great liberality and kind- Dess of viscoant Eliot. 179 CHAPTER VIII. 1629, 1630. Principal members of €tdministration, — Lard treasurer, — Lord keeper. — Earl of Manchester. — Marquis of Hamilton, — Laud. — Wentujorih. — Peace with Prance. — Treaty ufith J^pain.-^ Rubens, in England. — Banqueting-house. — Birth of a prince of Wales. — Interference of the French court. — Feelings of the puritans. — Death of the earl of Pembroke. — Laud chancellor of Oxford. — Marquis of Hamilton raises troops to join Gusto* vus'Adolphus. — Conduct of his agents. — His ill success and return. THE death of Buckingham had left his master without a favorite and without a prime minister, and he gave him no full successors in either capacity. The haughty temper of Charles had caused him to repel with disdain the suggestion that he was ruled even by the duke, and henceforth he seems to have conceded to none but his queen that ascendency which is founded on affection. Neither did his propensities lead him to devolve on any substitute the toils and cares of state. Habitually punctual and industrious, he willingly gave his time to the ordinary routine of public business ; fond of power, and jealous to excess of what he considered as popu- lar encroachment, he was prompted by cogent motives ta exercise a constant vigilance over every question or incident bearing a political aspect ; and with respect to the odium, or eventual danger which he might incur by taking upon him- self the prime responsibility of the highly unconstitutional system of rule which he contemplated, he tco much disdain- ed the people, he too literally believed that " the king's name is a tower of strength," to shrink back from it for a moment. The official persons therefore who at this time composed his council can be regarded in no other light than that of subordinate instruments ; yet it will be interesting even in this view to contemplate them more nearly ; since they had at least been selected by the chief artificer as tools peculiarly fitted to the work in band. 180 The lord-treasurer We«ton, now earl of Portland, had been one of the creatures of the mighty duke, but either. $ome decided tokens of his unfitness for high place, or more pro- bably, some personal causes of disgust, had so irritated his patron against him, that nothing, it was believed, but the event of his death could have prevented the speedy transference of the white staff to other hands. In fact, the capacity and attainments of this great officer exceeded in no degree the ordinary standard, and his moral qualities were of still bas- er alloy. His extraction and education were those of a pri-- Tate gentleman ; after a residence at the Middle Temple and a course of foreign travel, he had entered among the retain- ers of the court ; and it was not till after dissipating in his at- tendance there most of his own patrimony, and involving in securities with him such friends as were " willing to run his hopeful fortune,"* that he succeeded in obtaining some dip- lomatic employ. In this however he managed to give such satisfaction that he was admitted of the privy council, and lord Brooke, the " courtier of queen Elizabeth, the counsel- lor of king James, and the friend of Philip Sidney," was per- suaded, or compelled, to resign to him the office of chancellor of the exchequer. In this post he showed himself a compe- tent man of business, wbUst by the arts of a courtier, and espe- cially by a dexterous conduct in parliament, calculated to serve his master without bringing upon himself the displeas- ure of the commons, he so ingratiated himself, as to be. plac- ed, a few months before the termination of the duke'j career at the head of the treasury ; a post less indeed the object of ambition at this time than usual, on account of the ex- hausted state of the exchequer, and the uncertain tenure by which all offices were held under the sway of venality or caprice : five ex-lord-treasurers being then alive. No sooner had the removal of his patron freed the lord-treasurer from the control which his subaltern nature required, than he began to exercise with insolence the authority which he had earned by obsequiousness ; and openly aspiring to become the new dictator of the court and state, he succeeded so far as to share almost equally with Laud the obloquy which at- tached to the measures of government ; but in other respects his pretensions encountered a speedy check. The king was evidently determined to be his own prime minister, and for that portion of authority which he was disposed to ac- * Clarendon. 181 cord to his ofiicers of state, the earl of Portland discovered that he had many and formidable competitors. With an un- skilful imitation of the prosperous audacity of Buckingham^ he affected to sh'ght the queen ; opposed all who desired thtJ " increase of her influence, and " often crossed her pretences and desires with more rudeness than was natural to him;"* At the same time, the inborn cowardice and meanness which the arrogance of his demeanor imperfectly disguised, would often lead him to inquire with anxiety what her iriajestjr said of him in private, and when any of her sharp speeches were reported to him by his spies, he would either make complaint of them to the king, or seek by submissions and entreaties to obtain her forgiveness ; usually concluding the scene by be^ traying his informers. No one had more ambition to raise a family, and to leave a great fortune behind him, than the lord-treasurer, yet he suflFered the expenses of his household to become so enormous, that in spite of "all the means he used for supply, which were all which occurred,"! he was constantly overburthened with debts, towards the discharge of which the king largely contributed at two different times^ He obtained great donations also of crown-lands, which tk^ cited the more envy because It was peculiarly the duty of his oflSce to oppose such alienations, arid he in fact resisted with great rigor the pretensions of other men to similar fa:vors, and was believed to restrain almost every exertion of the royal bounty towards them. It is to be observed however, that the king, now solely intent upon his plan of establishing his in- dependence on parliaments, was bent on practising a strict economy, as the necessary means towards this end ; and his munificence was now seldom called into exercise* Little beloved at court, the lord-treasurer wfttf sufi(pected and hated by the people, who believed him a secret votary of that obnoxious faith which was openly professed by the fe- males of his family and his- principal adherents ; Nor wa« this opinion unfounded, since it was in the Romish commu- nion that he died a few years afterwards ; yeit by the catholics themselves he was regarded rather in the Itght af areal enemy than a timid friend ; for never, it is said, were the penal laws^ With the exception of those of a sanguinary nature, executed witfi greater strictness ; never did the crown ^^'^vo jo^argc a revenue from the compositions of recusants, never did they pay so dear for " the favors and indulgences of his othcc to- ♦Clarendon. t Ibid. Vou I. ^2 183 wards them." Here again however, it raaj be remarked, that every source of revenue had now become so important an object to Charles, that in all probability the mitigation of fines and penalties to the catholics was by no means left at the sole discretion of the treasurer. Lord keeper Coventry, an enemy whom the earl of Port- land bad already made an unsuccessful effort to displace, is said to have been a sound lawyer and a man of sense and dis- cretion ; although his hyperbolical representations of regal power and dignity in his harangues to parliament might serve in some measure to invalidate his claims to both parts of this character. " He knew," says lord Clarendon, *' the temper and disposition and genius of the kingdom most exactly ; "Saw their spirits grow every day more sturdy, and inquisitive and impatient, and therefore naturally abhorred all innovations," (meaning all assumptions of prerogative,) " which he fore- saw would produce ruinous effects. Yet many who stood at a distance thought he was not active and stout enough in the opposing those innovations. For though, by his place, he presided in all public councils, and was most sbarpsighted in the consequence of things, yet he was seldom known to speak in matters of state, which, he well knew, were for the roost part concluded before they were brought to that public agita- tion ; never in foreign affairs .... nor indeed freely in any thing but what immediately and plainly concerned the jus- tice of the kingdom, and in that, as much as he could, he po^ cured references to the judges." It is added as an eicuse for his raising no warning voice to save his sovereign from rushing blindly to destruction, that few persons were strong- ly attached to him or his interests ; and that knowing himself thus unprovided of friends either zealous or powerful at court, it was ** no wonder, nor to be imputed to him, that he retired within himself as much as he could, and stood upon his defence without making desperate sallies against growing mischiefs, which he well kiiew he had no power to hinder, and which might probably begin in his own ruin." " His security," con- cludes the noble historian, " consisted very much in the little credit he had with the king." ThecarlofManchester, lord privy seal, grandson to that lord chief justice Montague who was one of the executors of Henry VHL, had himself borne the same high judicial office, and afterwards, for a short time, that of lord-treasurer. He still preserved his activity and his sagacity in business unimpaired hy age ; but these qualities, as he employed them, tended . 1«3 chiefly to the injury of his country and his own disgrace. ** His honors/' says Clarendon, " had grown upon him faster than his fortunes, which made him solicitous to advance the latter by all the ways that offered themselves ; whereby he exposed himself to some inconvenience's and many reproaches, and be* came less capable of serving the public by his counsels and authority." He was '^ too much used as a cheek ^ upon the lord Coventry ; and when the other perplexed their counsels and designs with inconvenient objections in law, his authority, who bad trod the same paths, was still called upon ; and he did too frequently gratify their unjustifiable designs and pre- tences ; a guilt and mischief;" which, it is properly intimated, all men conscious of being themselves open to accusation, are liable to, and can scarcely escape.* Yet the sincere attach- ment to the protestant religion as by law established, and the loyalty and fidelity towards his prince of which he enjoyed the credit, preserved him for the present in good reputation both with the king and people, and it was his good fortune to close his career before the great and dreaded day of parliamentary inquisition arrived. Other conspicuous members of the council were the earls of Arundel, Montgomery, Dorset, Holland, and Carlisle, all well-known official characters under the former reign, but be- longing rather to the class of great nobles or courtiers, than that of statesmen ; for the most part they were men fond of plea- sure and expense ; many of them involved in debt and con- sequently servile and rapacious ; indifferent to public rights or public safety, and alone solicitous to secure their selfish ends by flattering the propensities of their master. But the projects of the king and the complexion of the times, demand- ed men of more daring minds and longer views, and the old councillors, with the single exception of Holland, who sup- ported himself on the favor of the queen, were on the point of yielding to the oiscendency of that triumvirate through whom Charles administered for several years the affairs of his three kingdoms, — the marquis of Hamilton, Laud, and Wentworth. James marquis of Hamilton and earl of Cambridge, a no- bleman not verj distantly related to the king, and high in the order of succession to the crown of Scotland, was born in that country in 1 606, and there he received his education till his fourteenth year ; at which period king James compel- led his father to send for him to court and marry him to lady * Clarendon, book I. 184 Mary Fielding, daughter of the earl of Denbigh and niece to Buckingham ; after which the young heir was dismissed oq bis travels. On his return, king Charles gave him ea>|y ad* mission to the council boards both of England and Scotland, and attached him to hb court and person by the post of gen- tleman of the bedchamber. Afterwards he retire^d in some discontent to Scotland ; but on the death of Buckingham was recalled and appointed master of the horse. His character even. at this early period gave indications of the craftiness and spirit of intrigue by which he was distinguished in after life. " I must concur," says sir Philip Warwick, " in that gener- al opinion that naturally he loved to gain his point rather by some serpentine winding than by a direct path." ** He bad a large proportion," adds the writer, " of his majesty's favor and ooii^dence, and knew very well how to manage both, and to accompany the king in his hard chases of the stag, and in the toilsome pleasures of a racket : by which last he often filled his own and emptied his master's purse ; and though he carried it very modestly and warily, yet he had a strong influence upon the greatest affairs at court, especially when they related unto his own country."* Whether personal ambition or zeal for his order were the most actuating principle, or ruling passion of bishop Laud, would be a question more curious than profitable. It is cer- tain, that in his successful struggles to establish hiradelf in the favor and confidence, first jof Buckingham and afterwards of the king, he had employed without scruple the deepest arts of men who seek advancement superior to their merits :— . Observance, profession, and assiduous adulation towards the patron or the master ; intrigue, circumvention, and' the sly insinuations of an ever-watchful malice, against competitors or opponents ; and towards dependents, those haughty me- naces, mingled with tempting intimations of conditional favor, which are most effectual to extort base compliances, or prompt to acts of guilty boldness. At the same time it is not to be doubted, that he was even fanatically devoted to the grand design of restoring to the English church whatever of riches, of power, or of splendor it had lost by, or since, the reforma- tion, and of reestablishing its independence on the civil power. This design he deemed it meritorious to advance by all means, at all costs, and through fell hazards. In order to his spiritual ends, the bishop was tempted to * Memoirs of sir PhiUp Warwick. 185 assume to himself a large and increasing share in the manage* ment of all the temporal affairs of the state ; and though his unfitness for the exercise o0"power became proportionally conspicuous, it was cheerfully conceded to him by a master partial alike to the man ant! to his order. But the ministers and courtiers viewed his encroachments with other eyes. Their attachment was to the Crown, the sole fountain to them of honors and emoluments ; and they were quick to infer from the temper of the people, that the church, in the advancement of its new pretensions, was likely to need more support than it would be able to requite. In the bishops and court chaplains who bad exhibited themselves so con- spicuously as the devoted satellites of absolute power, they beheld competitors rather than auxiliaries, — in Laud himself they found an importunate pedagogue, and often a stern and inflexible opponent. Haughty, fond of the exercise of autho- rity, and severe in his own manners, he was little indulgent to the frailties of the young and the gay. Conscious of his own pecuniary integrity, he found small temptation as a min- ister, to conciliate friends or gratify dependents by a com- pliance with the corrupt and mercenary propensities of others ; on the contrary, his zeal for the king and the cause, often prompted him to institute strict inquiry after any naalversations by which the exchequer would be the loser ; and this scrutiny he even extended Into the collection of the most oppressive and illegal taxations, in levying which men expected to be re- munerated not for their labor alone, but for the odium, the guilt and the danger. To suitors generally he was harsh and unpropitious ; but to the members of his own profession, when perfectly conformable and sufficiently humble, be could show himself not only a^JDunificent, but a benign and gracipus patron ; and in the society of a chosen few, he was capable of unbending even to mirthfulness. Wcntworth, perhaps alone amongst the lay advisers of the king, was closely united with Laud, and cordially promoted bis designs for the aggrandizement of the church ; but less, perhaps, from a reverence for ecclesiastical authority abstract* edly considered, than from opposition to the puritans, whom, as the great supporters of the constitutional cause which he bad publicly abandoned, he hated and pursued with the in- veteracy of an apostate. The character of this eminent statesman was one so strongly drawn by the hand of nature, that all the portraitures of it, whether by the hand of friend or foe^ offer the same grand lines ; it is in the tone of colo(% 186 tng only that they vary. It has been thus delineated hjr one who loved bis cause better than bis person. . . • ^^ He was every way qualified for busii^hs ; bis natural faculties being very strong and pregnant ; his understanding, aided by a good fancy, made him quick in discerning the nature of any busi- ness ; and through a cold brain he became deliberate, and of a sound judgment His memory was great, and he made it greater by confiding in it. His elocution was very fluent, and it was a great part of his talent readily to reply and freely io harangue upon any subject And all this was lodged in a sour and haughty temper ; so as it may probably be believed he expected to have more observance paid to him than he was willing to pay to others, though they were of bis own quality ; and then he was not like to conciliate the good*wiU of men of the ]»wbt station, ** His acquired parts, both in university and inns of court learning, as likewise in his foreign travels, made him an emi» pent man before he was a conspicuous ; so as when be came to show himself first in public affairs, which was in the house of commons, he was soon a bellrwether in that -flock. As he had these parts, he knew how to set a price on them, i£ not overvalue them : and he too soon discovered a roughness in bis nature, which a man no more obliged by him than I was, would have called an injustice In his person he was of a tall stature, but stooped much in the neck. His countenance was cloudy whilst he moved or sat thinking ; but when he spake, either seriously or facetiously, he had a light- some and a very pleasant air : and indeed, whatever he then did, he performed very gracefully.*** To this we may add, that his natural pride and self-consequence had been fostered by poming early to the possession of a great patrimonial es* tate, with which there had devolved upon him the charge of a numerous family of brothers and sisters, over whom h^ appears to have assumed all the authority of a lord and patron. He ^U 180 valued himself on an ancient lineage, embellished, as he re<p garded it, by a spurious descent from the Plautagenets through Margaret Countess of Hichmond, which he had caused to be os« tentaciously set forth in his patent of nobility. To gain a pre« dominating influence in his own county, and especially to hu- miliate his neighbor and sworn enemy, Lord^Savile, were doubt- less the primary objects of the intrigues which he had long been weaving at ^he court These ends he had fully attained about ♦ Warwick's MemoirSy pp. 109, U9. 167 the close of the year 16^8, when his advarioftttient to the fftnfe of viscount had restored to him the precedence which he had lost bj the prior elevation of SavHe to the baronage ; and when he had further succeeded in stripping him of the offide of cus* tus rotulorum for Yorkshire, which they had borne alternately^ and had sent him home from court a disgraced and almost broken-hearted man. But ambition is as little to be satiated with a first success, as quelled by a single failure. Went* worth, as a privy councillor, had been called upon to assist his majesty-by the suggestion of expedients for the establish- ment of his new plan of government ; and when, in Decern- ber 1628, he repaired to York to be pompously installed in his high office of president] of the council of the North, it was with the purpose of rendering himself meritorious with his master by the organization of a complete system of arbi- trary government over the five northern counties, which might serve as a large experiment upon the passive endurance of the English people, and if successful, as a grand precedent for the obedience of the rest of the kingdom. A brief notice of the history and constitution of the court in which he was call- ed to preside, will serve to illustrate this part of his pdlicy. The court of the North was instituted by Henry Till, in the 31st year of his reign, for the purpose chiefly of suppress-* ing the tumults in those parts arising out of the abolition of the smaller monasteries. The original comniission, addressed to the bishop of Llandaff and others, was no more than an ordinary one of oyer artd terminer, except that it ended with a captious and dangerous clause empowering the commissioners to hear and decide all causes, real or personal, between par- ties who, through poverty, should be unable to obtain justice by ordinary means. Yet not only was this clause, conferring an equity jurisdiction, held to be illegal, but even the whole commission ; because it took certain counties permanently out of the jurisdiction of the courts at Westminster : no com- plaints however appear to have been made for many years, partly because the minds of men were otherwise occupied, and partly, it is probable, because the proceedings of ther court were lenient and discreet. Under Elizabeth, an at- tachnxent was granted against the archbishop of York then president, for prohibiting the jailer at York from delivering a prisoner who had sued out his habeas corpus in the king's bench ; and the last jclause of the commission was then soU emnly declared illegal. Yet James on his accession renewed this commission, and in his 7th year be was guilty of granting 188 fl new one in which, by an enormous stride of usurpation, the court was directed to determine causes, not, as before, " by the oaths of twelve good rrien and true,'* and " according to thelaiis of England,'' but according to instructions sent them which were kept secret.* Wentworth's commission, as at first granted, far exceeded in its powers all former ones ; ' yet he twice afterwards applied for an extension of his authori- ty^ and with success. Some of its more important clauses were the following : The lord president, or in his absence the vice-president assisied by two of the council, was authorized to taKe c(^ni-^ sance of all felonies, and commit for them till the prisoners should be either " lawfully, or by sufficient warrant and au- ihority, delivered." They were armed with full powers to pursue recusants and all other religious delinquents in the manner of the high-commission : To punish all riots and every other misdemeanor with fine and imprisonment accord-' ing to their " discretion" and according to the laws and or- dinances : To punish perjury, provided it were not with less severity than was authorized by the statute : To punish at discretion, by fine and imprisonment, all libels, excepting such as appeared dangerous to the state, on which they were to report to the privy council : To exercise an equity jurisdictioit in matters of property both real and personal : To decide personal actions on the same principle : To make inquiry of wrongful inclosures, and punish rich offenders : To summon and instruct justices of the peace : To enforce obedience to their own proclamations, and punish contempts of the autho- rity of the court. By these and other provisions, this awful tribunal was eera- bled to unite the powers of the court of chancery, the star- chamber, and in eflfect, of the high-commission and ecclesi- astical courts likewise, with the jurisdiction of the courts of common law ; and this authority it might also exercise with- out the intervention of a jury, and with the substitution of discretionary punishments for those awarded by the laws ; and the spirit in which this discretion was designed to be ex- ercised, was thus unequivocally proclaimed in the conclusion of the commission itself: " And whereas we perceive that mildness and favor doth much bolden the evil-disposed, we earnestly require the said lord president and whole council for some convenient season from henceforth, to use severity * Rttflhworth, n. p. 1^2. et seq. * 189 a^inst notable offenJers ; and to punish them without any long detay, not only by pain of body and imprisonment, but also by good fines and amerciaments, so as the opinion and re- putation of severity may work that by force which is^ and hath long been seen, will not be obtained by favor and gentle- ness/'* When we reflect that he who had solicited and obtained this commission, extending in every direction the discretionary power of a court in itself illegally established, had been once an undaunted confessor in the cause of English liberty, — afterwards, an able, bold, and sagacious assertor of the laws and constitution, and that he was at this time a sworn and responsible adviser of the very king from whom the pe- tition of right had been extorted, — we stand confounded at the political prostitution of the minister, the faithlessness of the prince, and (tie audacity of both. But in order to carry into effect the ** new measurea'* which had been resolved upon, these preliminaries were indispensable ; — ^to stifle by means of severe chastisements the expression of public discontent ; to coerce the puritans and squeeze the catholics ; to recruit the e^ehequer by oppressive fines and confiscations levied under pretext of law or prerogative ; and above all, to en- force the general payment of taxes laid by the king's sole authority. And to objects like these the vulgar-minded am-, bition of Wentworth, seconded by his inborn love of domi- neering, lent itself rather with cheerfulness and Ulacrity thaa with any show of scruple or hesitation. . By the financial expedients just intimated, Charles flattered himself that the expenses of his court and government during a state of peace might permanently be defrayed ; but the supplies of war could only be furnished, he was well aware, by the aid of parliament. He therefore found it necessary to listen to the advice of his council, who now unanimously concurred in recommending negotiations both with France and Spain. Since the king of England was content to leave the Frencli protestants without stipulation to the mercy of their sovereign, there was nothing to impede an amicable ar- rangement with that court, which was concluded, by the me- diation of Venice, in April 1629. . The treaty with Spain was not actually signed till November 1680, though all mili- tary operations had ceased ; and so long before as the No- vember of the preceding year, Cottington had been sent am- * Rymer. Fadera. Date Dec. 15, 1699. Vol. I. 28 .190 bastador to Madrid ; ^' maugre the French ambassador,'' says a letter of that time, ^* who with all the strength he had» op- posed his journej, and used the queen's assistance therein : 80 that when sir Francis Cottington came to take his leave of her, and to know what service her majesty would please to command him to her sister, answered as I told you in my last [that she would have nothing to do with Spain, nor with any person there.] And when die could not prevail with his majesty to cross the ambassage, she shed tears in anger."* We have here perhaps the earliest instance on record of the open interference of Henrietta iti affairs of state, and it seems that she had not yet learned the art of making this in- terference effective. The only additional circumstance of any interest connected with this Ungering" negotiation is, that the first overtures passed through the hands of sir Balthasar Grcrbier of Antwerp, a painter and sculptor long in the service of Buckingham and knighted by his means, and that its fur- ther progress was entrusted to Rubens, and the occasion of that visit to England of which his pencil has left a celebrat-i ed and enduring memorial. This illustrious painter after three years spent in adorning the Luxembourg, according to a lively writer, with " the ostensible history" of the life of Mary de' Medici, " had returned to Antwerp, where his vari- ous talents were so conspicuous, that he was pitched upon to negotiate a treaty of peace between Spain and England. The infanta Isabella sent him to Madrid for instructions, where he ingratiated himself so much with the conde-duc d' Olivarez, that besides many valuable presents he had a brevet for himself and bis son of secretary of the privy council, and was dismissed with a secret commission to king Charles, ........ in which he had the honor of succeeding."t Delighted with the opportunity of employing such talents more appropriately in the art he loved, Charles engaged the ambassador, for the sum of S,OOOZ., to paint the ceiling of the Banqueting-house, the beautiful work of Inigo Jones. The subject chosen was the strange one of the apotheosis of king James ; and thus the painting was contrived in some degree to supply the place of the royal monument proposed, but ne- ver carried into execution. On the 29th of May 1630, the queen gave birth to a prince of Wales, afterwards Charies II. In the preceding year she had brought forth a son who had lived just long enough to oc- ♦ EUii, vol. iii. p. 284. t Lord Orford'i AneedoUs of Pointing. 101 casion a vigorous effort on the part of her household priests to secure to themselves the performance of the rite of baptism ; atid it is said to have been only by great vigilance on the pro- testant side that this popish plot was disconcerted. It docs not appear that this attempt was repeated on the birth of the se- cond child; but the French court seized the opportunity to renew its busy interference with the appointments of the royal household. ** Earnest instance" was made that a bishop and a physician might be sent over to the queen ; and notwith- standing " his majesty's express pleasure to the contrary,** declared to the marquis de Chateauneuf in England, and by sir Thomas Edmonds in France, the physician was actually sent by the queen-mother, addressed to the French ambassa- dor, and Henrietta was ** persuaded in plain and clear terms to speak to the king to admit him as domestic.'' But Charles was resolute ; and the intruder was informed that ** he might return as he was come, with intimation he should do it speed- ily."* By ancient privilege the archbishops of Canterbury are ordinaries of the royal household, wherever it may be, and entitled to perform all rights of the church for the members of the royal family ; but Abbot being, according to the ex- pression of Heylyn, ^^ at that time infirm, or otherwise of no desirable company," the office of baptism devolved on Laud, as dean of the chapel. Williams was likewise excluded from the general invitation given to the bishops to assist at the cere- mony. He avenged the slight by remarking, that if present he could not have joined in the prayer composed by Laud on the occasion and recommended to all parish- churches, in which was the petition ; ** Double his father's graces, O Lord, upon him, if it be possible /" which he justly stigmatized, though with some forgetfulness of his own former excesses of a like nature, as ^* three-piled flattery and loathsome divi- nity."! Some remarkable indications of the feelings of the puritans on this joyful event to the royal family, are supplied by the biographer of Laud. ** One of their leading men scrupled not to observe at an entertainment, whilst others were expressing their satisfaction, . that he saw no great cause of joy in it ; for that God had already better provided for us than we had deserved, in giving such a hopeful progeny by the queen of Bohemia, brought up in the reformed religion, whereas it was uncertain what religion the king's children would fol- * EUU, 3d MriM, Yol. iu. p. 260. ^ L^of WUlwm, part ii. p. 96. 10ft low, being to be brought up under a mother go devoted to the church of Rome/' A memorable and prophetic judgment ! ** And I remember/' adds the writer, *^ that being at a town in Gloucestershire when th6 news came of the prince's birth, there was great jo j showed by all the rest of the parish, in causing bonfires to be made, and the bells to be rung, and sending victuals unto those of the younger sort, who were most busily employed in the public joy ; but so that from the rest of the houses, being of the presbyterian or puritan party, there came ueither man nor child, nor wood nor Tictuals ; their doors being shut close all the evening as in a time of general mourning and disconsolation."* During this year William Herburt earl of Pembroke closed his mortal careen His death took place without previous iDness on his fiftieth birth-day, according to a prediction, said to have been made to him several years before, but whether b^ Alten, a celebrated mathematician of Oxford, by Sandford his tutor, or by the noted prophetess lady Davies, authors, as usual in the curcumstances of a marvellous story, are divided. This peer is confessed to have disgraced himself by the extreme of prodigality, and by excess of every kind ; but his splendid manner of living, his bounty, his elegant accomplishments, and abov^ all, his manly and disinter- ested spirit, the lofty contempt which he had displayed for all the royal favorites of his time, and his steady attachment to the constitution, had rendered him perhaps the most pop- ular of Ei^lish noblemea. He was fond of poetry, and composed verse, but of no high order; a whole volume writ- ten by him in praise of Christian countess of Devon, was published by Dr. Denne with a dedication to herself. As a patron of letters, the merits of the earl were more emi- nent Posterity will account it the highest of his honors to have received, in conjunction with his brother, the dedi- cation of the first edition of the collected works of Shakes- peare ; offered by bb humble executors to the *^ noble pair" with what they style, *^ a kind of rel'^ious address," yet not without some intimations of a due sense of the inestimable value of what they presented. . The death of Pembroke left vacant the office of chancellor of the university of Oxford, which he had sustained^ with dignity and appbiuse ; and no sooner was his death announced, than the adherents of bishop Laud, eager to flatter bis ambi- *!* CifprUmu9jJSnj;licanus, p. 196. t9S tion, and anxious to .anticipate an intended opposition, met in baste, and elected that prelate his successor. Gustavus Adolphus king^ of Sweden was at this time in the midst of his splendid career of victory and conquest, and san- guine hopes were entertained of the restoration of the exiled palatine by the arms of this protestant hero, in conjunction with his German allies. The English people took a warm in- terest in the cause, and some zealous partisans industriously raised the report, that a parliament would be summoned to grant the king supplies for joining in the enterprise. But Charles feared to commit himself by any decided steps ; and pursuing the futile policy of his father, he continued to profess bis expectation of eflfecling the same object through the friend- ly mediation of Spain with the emperor. The marquis of Hamilton however, by means of the strong personal influence which he enjoyed with his master, succeeded in obtaining from him in secret the sura of 100,0002., with permission to cnfist 6,000 men, half English and half Scotch, and lead them to the assistance of the king of Sweden. The clandestine nature of this transaction conspired with the opinion com- monly entertained of the dark and designing nature of Ham- ilton, to excite strange expectations or suspicions. Meld rum and Ramsey, two countrymen of his own whom he bad sent as his agents and precursors into Germany, hazarded some disloyal expressions against the person and government of their sovereign, and lord Bea, a man of honor, returning to the English court from the camp of Gustavus, repeated ex- pressions employed to himself by Ramsey tending to engage him in some plot for seating the marquis on the throne of Scotland. Ramsey denied the words, and demanded a judi- cial combat for vindication of his honour ; to this the king at first consented ; but after great preparations made, the com- bat was forbidden and the inquiry finally quashed. During the whole of these proceedings Charles strikingly displayed his unshaken confidence in the loyalty of his kinsman and friend by lodging him, often singly, in his own bedchamber. No sooner was the investigation ended, than Hamilton em- barked for Elsinore, and joined the i^rmy of Gustavus in Sile- sia ; but either from his own unskilfulness in the duties of a commander, or from a want of due cooperation, his troops were suffered to waste the suminer without achieving or at- tempting any enterprise of moment. Their ranks were quickly thinned by famine and sickness, and after seeing then) dwindle to two slender regiment^, their commander left them 194 to the difpo«al of their cotonels and returned bimself to court The mortification of the failure must have been to the king a severe one ; but be manifegted his equanimity, and perhaps his justice also, by receiring the unsuccessful leader into his accustomed place of trust and faror. y 195 CHAPTER IX. 1630 to 1632. Court intrtgues. — Growing influence of the queen, — She founds a capuchin, churchy — Acts in a pastoral. — Prtfun^s Histriomas^ tix* — Leighton sentenced for UbeL — Instructions to the bishops. — Domestic worship impeded, — Laud's consecration of churches, — Society for buying impropriations condemned, — Reedijica- tion of St, PauVs commenced, — Illegal and oppressive modes of raising money jor this purpose, — Results of the undertaking,--^ Laud speaks in public against a married clergy, — Seems to re- tract, — Celebrates marriage with new rites, — Obtains offices for Windebank and Juxon, — Seizes upon ehurch'patronage,- — Dis- poses of bishoprics at his pleasure,'-^Lays a fine upon printers ^ of the bihle^ — Causes Sherfield to be punished for destroying an idolatrous picture. — Remarks, — Notice of sir Robert Cotton, — Proposed visit of Mary d^ Medici,~Q;ueen of Bohemia de^ dines visiting England, FROM the period of Buckingham's death, Henrietta, freed from the rivalry of a favorite, had been silently occupied in spreading the network of her intrigues over the whole court, which she aspired to rule. She now began to operate more openly. By her power, Henry Jermyn, already, as it seems, her favored lover, was supported, against the judgment of the king himself, in refusing the reparation of marriage to a maid of honor of the house of Yilliers, whom he had seduc- ed. There is some reason to believe that the noted division of the court into king's side and queen's side arose out of the factions to which this affair of gallantry gave birth. The wily Hamilton^ whose influence with the king was second to none, having, as we are told, obtained indubitable proof of the queen's intimacy with Jermyn, and thus enabled himself to make his own terms with her, from her enemy» became her ally.* Partly, it is probable, by his aid, partly by her own * For the proofs on which I have ventured to give the particulars of this very curious piece of secret history, compare the mysterious story told by Clarendon, in the beginning of his '* Life," of his ewn introduction to the court and its intrigues, whi has rendered lutherto uninl court and its intrigues, which his desiiped suppression of the name of Jermyn lintelligible, with a note of lord Dartmouth's in Bur« 196 arts and blandishment^ she established an ascendency over the spirit of her husband which went on augmenting to the end ; and even Laud and Wentworth, although jealous and repining, found themselves compelled on many occasions, to tolerate her interference, to promote her objects, and even to humble themselves so far as td sue for her favor. Not so the puritan divines : with them Henrietta was still, and ever, an object of unmitigated abhorrence, and their hos- tility against her increased in exact proportion to the increase of what they regarded as her power of doing mischief. Ber- nard, a London lecturer, publicly prayed to the Lord to ** open the queen's majesty's eyes, that she may see Jesus Christ, whom she has pierced with her infidelity, superstition, and idolatry;'"^ expressions for which he was summoned before the high-com mission, but on his humble submission dismissed. By another polemic, who neither sought nor found the same indulgence. Dr. Alexander Leighton, a Scotch divine but be- neficed in England, in a rude and bigoted tract entitled, ^* An appeal to parliament, or Zion's plea against prelacy," she was stigpmatized as an ^* idolatress," a *^ Canaanitess," a ** daughter of Heth." It is possible however that even this degree of insolence towards the queen might like- wise have met with remission, had not. the author vehe- mently inveighed against the tyranny of the bishops, and ex- horted the parliament and people to abolish episcopacy as an institution utterly antichristian. For these offences he was seized by pursuivants, who terriiied his family and 'plundered his goods ; carried in the first instance to the episcopal palace of Laud, and then thrown into Newgate, where he was visited by the attorney-general, for the purpose of drawing from him, by artful questions mixed with offers of pardon, the names of those at whose instigation he had written. On his firm refus- ^ ■ al to criminate his friends, he was proceeded against in the star-chamber, where the two chief justices did not scruple to assure him, that in their own courts they would have declar- i ed him guilty of high treason. His sentence was, to pay a ^ fine of 10,000Z. to be imprisoned for life, to stand twice in the pillory, and each time to be whipped, to have an ear cut ofi^ a nostril slit, and a cheek branded. It is affirmed, that on the * pronouncing of this judgment. Laud pulled off his cap, and net*8 " Own Times," Oxford edit. 1823, vol. i. p. 63, and with Sirofford Letters, vol. i. 174, 225. For the uaderstandine of the last-cited authority, it should be kQown, that sir Thomas the father of Hear^ Jermyn bore the office of vice* chamberlain. '^Neal's Hist, of the /mritanf, vol. ii. p. 201 . ^ 197 publicly gave thanks to God. From what was called rcvcr- epce to the priesthood, Leighton was first degraded bj the high- commission ; the whoi« savage punishment was then in- flicted upon him without the slightest mitigation. The obJoquy to which it exposed her from the opposite acct, and the consequence which il gave her with her own, tended alike to endear to Henrietta the religion she profess- ed, and she lost no occasion of signalizing her zeal. By the absurd and culpable indulgence of the king, she had been permitted again to introduce a fraternity o[ capuchins as an appendage to her household, A church was likewise to be built for them in a court of Somerset-house, and of this, as a contemporary letter informs us, " her majesty with her own handa helped to lay the two first corner-stones, with a silver plate of equal dimensions between them, — which stones, in the presence of 2000 people at least, they consecrated with great ceremony, having caused to be engraven upon the up- per part of thai plate, the pictures of their majesties as found- ers, and the lower side, of the capuchins as consecrators." Even in her amusements the queen afforded subjects of indignant comment to those by whom her religion and her national manners were held in almost equal reprobation. A pastoral having been composed by Walter Montague, a favor- ite courtier, to be performed by her ladies and maids of hon- or, she herself condescended to study a part in it, ^* as well for her recreation, as for the exercise of her English." This was a striking novelty at the English court : Anne of Den- mark and her ladies had itideed been accustomed to sustain parts in the performance of masques, but they were always mute ones ; these entertainments, as far as the amateur per- formers were concerned, being nothing more than displays of fancy dresses and figure-dancing. No English female had ever yet appeared on the public stage : the women's parts both in tragedy and comedy being constantly sustained by boys ; and the introduction of such an innovation under the sanction of so high authority and example^ might reasonably have been viewed with alarm and displeasure by persons far removed from puritanism. It was immediately after the per- formance of her majesty's pastoral, that Laud brought to her a book called " Histriomastix," in the index to which " women actors" were referred to under a most opprobrious designation. Her majesty, naturally incensed by what she regarded as a personal insult of the grossest kind, called up- on her royal consort for the vindication of her honor by Vol. I. 24 198 the eiemplary punhhment of the libeller. It tras well known to the prelate that the work in question had been printed and licensed by the archbishop's chaplain several weeks before the court-pastoral was thought of : but the au- thor, William Prynn, having already published some attacks upon episcopacy and upon the ArminianSy for which he had escaped the bishop of London's vengeance by obtaining a Erohibition against the proceedings of the high-commission, e seized without any hesitation this opportunity of bringing him into trouble. Peter Heylyn, afterwards the biographer of Laud, a divine more eager for his patronage than, scrupu- lous about the means of obtaining it, was employed by him to draw from the book heads of scandal against the king, queen, stSite and government ; on which Noy, now attorney-gener- al, notwithstanding the reluctance which he manifested, was directed by the prelate to institute proceedings ; the author being in the mean time committed to close custody in the Tower. This affair diew with it long consequences, and both the man and the work are sufficiently remarkable to claim an ample notice. William Prynn, bom of a good family at Swanswtck in Somersetshire in 1600, graduated at Oxford in 1620 ; after which he entered at Lincoln's Inn, 'and became a labortouB student of the law. He was at the same time a constant at- tendant on the discourses of the celebrated Dr. Preston, and adopted in all its rigor the system of Calvin both in doctrine and discipline, with the principles, the manners, and above all the scruples, characteristic of the English puritans. Of this sect indeed, Prynn may be regarded as the grand exem- plar, and a catalogue of his astonishingly numerous and quaintly entitled polemical tracts, would of itself iaifford a pretty comprehensive notion of its leading opinions and points of controversy. To renounce as antichristian the pomps and vanities, the elegancies and the amenities of life, was no s«icri&ce to Prynn ; under any system, hie would have been by temper gloomy, unsocial, and severe. His views were narrow, hs imagination dull, and his sympathies defective ; on the other hand, his reading was extensive, his earnestness cdromeo- surale with his opinion of the certainty and vital importancQ of the doctrines he embraced, his integrity above all suspi- cion, his fortitude inflexible, his di%ence stupendous. It has been calculated that during his whole life, after the attain- ment of man's estate, he wrote an an average one printed 190 sheet daily. He would rarely intermit his solitary studies to partake of any regular meal, contenting himself with an oc- casional morsel or draught from the bread and ale which ^ere constantly placed by his side ; and thus, in the midst of a capital and engaged in a profession, he led the life^ of an ascetic and almost of an anchoret. " Histriohiastix, the player's scourge or actoi-*s tragedy,** is an invective consisting of no less than 1000 closely printed quarto pages. Of the mode in which theatrical amuse- ments were in his own time conducted, and their practical effects upon morals, the author was little qualified by per- sonal knowledge to speak ; for he informs his readers, that having once in his life been drawn by the importunity of bis companions to the theatre, the compliance appeared to him so exceedingly sinful, that he sat during the whole perform- ance with his hat plucked over his eyes, groaning in spirit, and wondering what amusement any person could possibly find in these exhibitions. His information on this subject ap- pears nevertheless to have been full and correct ; and the work has gained an artificial value with posterity from the curious notices which it preserves of the manners and fash- ions of the times, which have been culled with profane dili- gence from the mass, and employed to illustrate various ob- scure points in the early history of the English drama. It is inscribed to his brother-^tudents of the inns of court, whom he solemnly calls upon to falsify the following censure, pass- ed upon them by English writers ; here referring to a pas- sage in bishop Earle's witty book entitled Microcosro<qpraphy. *^ That the inns of court men were undone but for the players ; that they are the chiefest guests and employment, and the sole business that makes them afternoon's men : that this is on? of the first things they learn, as soon as they are admitted ; to see stage-plays and take smoke at a play- house, which they commonly make their study ; and where they quickly learn to follow all fashions, to drink all healths, to wear favors and good clothes, to consort with ruflianly companions ; to s^wear the biggest oaths, to quarrel easily, fight desperately, game inordinately ; to spend their patrimo<- mony ere it fall, to use gracefully some gestures of apish compliment, to talk irreligiously, to dally with a mistress .... to prove altogether lawless instead of lawyers, and to forget that little grace and virtue which they had before : so that they grow at last past hopes of ever doing good, either to the church, their country, or their own or others* souls.** 200 The bo(ly of the work may be described as a vast farrago of texts of scripture, decisions of synods and councils, — which it is to be remarked that the puritans of those days cited with as much reverence as their prelatical or even their Romish adversaries, — quotations from christian fathers, from divines, ancient and modern, catholic and protestant ; from acts of parliament, statutes of universities, and even from heathen poets, philosophers and historians, all tending to show, ac- cording to the title-page, " That popular stage playp, (the very pomps of the devil which we renounce in baptism if we believe the fathers,) are simply heathenish, lewil, ungodly spectacles, and most pernicious corruptions ; condemned in all ages as intolerable mischiefs to churches, to republics, to the manners, minds, and souls of men.'' Of reasoning there i) little or nothing ; the author's part is all railing. Nor does he confine himself to the professed object of his attack ; danc- ing, dress, fashions, diversions of varioush kinds, the Book of Sports,— by which certain games were permitted on Sundays, — ^the new ceremonies introduced into public worship by the prelates, and even the festivities of Christma8,-^or Christ- tidiy as his sect preferred to call it, — ^all partake of his ana- thema. Idolatry, whether heathenish or popish, was the mode of superstition of which the puritans stood most superstltiously in dread ; and one of this writer's leading objections to the drama is deduced from its original appropriation to the wor- ship of Bacchus. To this he admits that it might be answer- ed, that there Mras nothing either profitable or pleasing to man, which had not been dedicated to some false god or other; but that such dedications could not render whole species for ever unclean ; nor was it unlawful for Christians to use inventions which heathens had abused. *• This/' says he, " I allow, in case of profitable inventions or God's good creatures," and " it may be true in some particular cases, (as perchance in case of needful ceremonies, or of temples built and dedicated to idolatry,) that their impiety in tract of time may vanish, and then they may be consecrated to God's ser- vice, and reduced to a lawful use ; as the cathedral church of St. Paul's, aforetime the temple of Diana, as some record, and most of our English churches, at first devoted unto mass and popish idolatry, are now designed to God's public wor- ship ; whence the Brownists style them idols' synagogues, Baal's temples, abominable sties, and would have them razed to the ground ; for which we all condemn them : yet it can- 201 not hold in stage pJay* ;" because these are " altogether unne^ cessary vanities and superfluous pleasures, which may be bet- ter spared than retained ;" because " they have always been seandalous and offensive to the church, and no restraining laws have ever been able to abridge, much less reform, their exorbitant' corruptions.'^ Such were, the distinctions of this writer, such his logic ! He even urges the danger of a revival of idolatry by means of classical dramas and poems, atid complains that forty thousand plays had. been written within a few years, and printed on better paper thaa the bible itself. Actings he styles hypocrisy; face-painting ." an accursed hellish art." He mentions that "they have now their fe^ male players in Italy and other foreign parts, and had such French-women actors in a play not long since personated in Blackfriars playhouse, to which there was great resort." Lovelocks, hairpowder, the effeminate fashions of the nten, and the cropped hair of "our men-women monsters," are fiercely stigmatized; .Daneing is a thing " to God's to Christ's dishonor, religion's scandal, chastity's shipwreck^ sin's advantage, and the eternal ruin of many precious souls." "Dancing," he adds, *^ yea even in qtieens themselves and the very greatest persons, who are most commonly devoted to it, hath been always scandalous and of ill repute among the saints of God." With a kind of savage exultation he re- cords several pretended judgments of the Deity against the frequenters pf theatrical entertainments j he reprobates the mirth which they excite, as " cachinnations unbecoming a Christian ;" and to the ordinary plea for frequenting them, that some recreation is necessary, he triumphantly replies^ that at least men can have no need of pastimes such as these in London, where they may hear excellent sermons on al- most every day of the week. After a long and rigorous imprisonment, the star-chamber passed upon Prynn the following atrocious sentence : To be fined ^000/. to the king, expelled the University of Oxford and Lincoln's Inn, and incapacitated to practice in the law^: To stand in the pillory, to lose his ears, to have his book burned before his face, and be imprisoned for life. Sir Sy- mondsJ)'Ewes the antiquary, in bis private journal, thus com- memorates the sentence and the sufferer. " Notwith- standing this censure, which most men were affrighted at, to see that neither his academical nor barrister's gown could free him from the infamous loss of his ears,, yet all good men generally conceived it would have been remitted ; and nniny reported it was, till the sad and fatal execution of it this Midsummer term. I went to risii hiiB^ a while after in the Fleet, and to comfort him ; and found in him the fare effects of an upright heart and a good conscience, by bis se- renity of spirit and cheerful patience." Several other nearly contemporary transactions deserve record as illustrations of the spirit and policy of Laud, which, through his daily augmenting influence over the mind of the king, bad now become in a manner identified with those of the gOTernment itself. Certain royal ^instructions" drawn up by the hand of this prelate were issued to the bishops, the purport of which was, to impose efit^ctual restraints upon the party among the ^?^y oppos^ to his ecclesiastical innoYationa. By these, the prelates were enjoined constant residence and unremitting vigilance ; catechising was to be substituted for afternoon sermons, lecturers were laid under fresh restraints ; and they were commanded ** to use M means, by some of their cknr* gy, or others, to learn what was said by preachers and lec- turers in their discourses, that they might take orders for any abuses accordingly :" An injunction fit to have been addressed by a grand-inquisitor to his familiars \ No private chaplains were to be allowed in the houses of any ** under noblemen und men qualified by law,'' — qualified, that is, to enable their chaplains to hold more than one cure, — ^for the law had de-r barred no man from maintaining a chaplain ia his house, and *^ the country gentlemen," says Heylyn, ** took it ill to be deprived of this liberty," and commanded to a constant attend* ance at their parish churches : — But this was a necessary step towards the maintenance of exact ritual conformity and the suppression of the Calvinistic doctrines. To illustrate this subject it may be mentioned that sir Henry Slingsby, who, after bravely maintaining the royal cause in the field, at lengtti died for it on the scaffold, in recording in his private diary for 1639 the baptism of his son, mentions thus feelingly the obstacles systematically opposed to the exercise of domestic worsliip. " The company al the christening was not many Mr. Thurcrosse preached, having come from York on foot that morning ; he refused to preach without leave from the chancellor, Dr. Easdell, because the chapel is not consecrated, so having with much ado got leave, he came unexpected. ...... Notwithstanding this inhibition, we ven- turje to have senuons in our chapel now and then, although we incur some danger if it were complained of. I once 203 essayed to get it consecrated by our biahop that now is (Neile), but he refused, baying, as be says, express commands not to consecrate any, lest k may be the occasion of conventicles : And so I think it may be abused, yet it would be of great use to us that live here at Redhouse, to have a sermon in the chap- el, being so far from our parish church at More Monkton, es- pecially in winter weather. It is not amiss to have a place consecrated for devotion, as our churches are, thereby to sepa- rate them for that use, but we cannot stay ourselves here, but believe a Sanctity in the very walls and atones of the church, and herein we do of late draw near to the superstition of the church of Rome, who do suffer such external devotion to ef- face and wear ont the internal devotion of the heart."* The consecration of churches was in the ey«s of Laud an affair of the highest importance ; and in January 1631 he first prepared to astonish the people of London by an exhibition of this kind. It is worthy of note, that the ritttal of the chnrch of England supplied no formula for this act, which the earli- er reformers may thence be suspected to have regarded as su- perfluous, if not superstitious. Laud professed to employ, though not, he owned, without alterations and additions, a service composed by bishop Andrews for his own use ; but the fact was, that he had adopted for the purpose, with little or no variation, the forms of the Romish rit»ial- St. Catherine Creed church, which had not been rebuilt, but only repaired, was pronounce({ by him to stand in need of this operation, pn account of the new materitcis introduced, and thither he re- paired in great state, ** an infinite number of people of all sorts," says Heylyn, " drawing together to behold that cere- mony, to which they had so long been strangers, ignorant altogether of the antiquity and the necessity of it" Without entering into the curious, but tedious and often- told particulars of this most sjjrpcrstitious performance, and of the bowings and acts of adoration introduced into the ad- ministration of the eucharist, — ^the mass it might almost be called, — with which he concluded the scene,— it may be stat- ed that the Romish aspect of the whole gave infinite sc4ndal and alarm to the spectators, and according to the statement of his own partial biographer, nfiight well have exposed any other than this bishop to a prosecution ;t hut his pow^r and favor were such as to put out of the questioii all opposition * From a manuscript dkry of Sir H. Stingeby. t C^fprUtnuiJSngUeiu, p. 900» 204 on the port of individuals, and no parliament existed ; and thus the opportunity was afforded him of several times repeat- ing the offensive ceremony in different churches of London or its vicinity. A society had been instituted about the beginnhng of the reign, maintained by voluntary subscriptions, for the purpose of buying in lay impropriations, and endowing what was call- ed " a preaching ministry" with the revenues. In this there was nothing contrary to law ; but it was no sooner suggested to Laud, through the interested officiousness of Heylyn, that the clergy presented by the feoffees belonged to the puritanical party, than he resolved to put an end to the whole design ; and Noy lending his aid to the injustice, the feoffees were summoned before the 'court of exchequer, the trust annulled, the impropriations already purchased confiscated to his ma- jesty's use, and " the merit of the cause referred to a fur- ther censure ;"* that is, they were menaced with a prosecu- tion in the star-chamber, which however was not proceeded in, after the society had submitted to the wrongful seizure of all its property. The cathedral church of St. Paul, the most spacious, and anciently the most magnificent structure in the kingdom, had long since fallen into a dilapidated and almost ruinous state. During the reign of James, materials had been provided and money raised for its repair ; but the task had been continu- ally procrastinated, the funds being probably diverted to other purposes. On the translation of Laud to the see of London, it became one of his favorite objects to remove what might justly be regarded as a reproach to the city, and even to the government, by rescuing this venerable edifice from decay, and restoring it to all its pristine splendor. But in this, as in all his other enterprises, his impetuous zeal, as it hurried on to its' end, seized without scruple upon all the means which of-« fered, and trampled alike on the prejudices, the interests, the feelings, and the rights of men. No juncture could have been more unpropitious to such an undertaking. In catholic times, the resources for works of this nature were obvious and abundant. The ecclesiastics of rank, unmarried and with vast revenues at their disposal, de- lighted to perpetuate their names in monuments of architectur- al taste and magnificence, consecrated to the purposes^of relig- ion. Princes, noblemen and ladies, were actuated by similar * Cypritmui ^ngUcus, p. 200*. V 205 hiotives of piety or ambition ; and even the common artisans were easily incited by their priests to bring their contributions in labour, for which they were to be repaid by indulgencef, and the prayers of the church. But these springs the Re- formation had dried up. The clergy no longer possessed in- comes to the same amount, or equally dbposable : the funds of the nobility were absorbed by the increasing luxury of pri- vate life, and in the popular system of religion, faith had tak- en place of the good works of the church, which were de- clainfed against as superstitious, and shunned as expensive. Contributions purely voluntary could not therefore be relied upon for the completion of so vast an enterprise ; during the suspension of parliaments no tax could legally be imposed for this or any other object, and the deficiency could only be supplied by the most odious and exasperating modes of ex- tortion. To give a distinguished commencement to the work, the king, at the bishop's suggestion, visited St Paul's in state ; and after hearing an appropriate sermon, ** took a view of the decays of the church," and promised that his efforts should not be wanting. Soon after, to give as much as possible an air of lawful authority to the intended collection, a commission was issued under the great seal, appointing money brought in for this purpose to be paid into the chamber of London, and a register to be kept of the contributors, and the amount of their subscriptions ; and declaring further, that ^* the judges of the prerogative courts, and all officials throughout the sev- eral bishoprics of England and Wales, upon the decease of persons intestate, should be excited to remember this church out of what was proper to be given to pious uses."* It is surprising that the last clause should have escaped the point- ed animadversion of historians. The goods of intestates bad indeed, in very early times, been granted by the crown, which had previously laid claim to them, to be employed by the ordinaries in what were then called pioutuses; but the flagrant abuses which grew out of the exercise of this pow- er, — or rather perhaps the hardship and injustice of the thing itself,— had prompted the legislature to interpose ; and by a statute dated aa to back as the 3 1st of Edward III. compel- ling the ordinarieila appoint administrators, who were bound to account in the same manner as executors under a wdl, the power of applying ally part of the property of mtestates to ♦ Life of Laurf, p. 20S. Vol, L ^^ 35 306 •acb uses, bad been finally and compl^tel^ taken away. Yet we bere find the existence of such a power assumed as a thing of course, and a door thus reopened to a mode of ec- clesiastical eitortion which had been suppressed as intolera- ble by the legislative wisdom of the fouileenth century. A previous step to ecclesiastical encroachment in these af- fairs, may be traced in a proclamation of October 1629, ad- dressed to the bishops for the repair of decayed churches throughout the kingdom. The churches, it is said, ought to be repaired by the inhabitants and landholders (and not, it seems, out of the tithe), and the bishops are directed '^ to use the powers of the ecclesiastical court, for putting the same in due execution ; and that the judges be required not to inter- rupt this good vfcrk by their too easy granting of prohibi- tions."* That is, they were enjoined not to grant the sub- ject legal redress against the extortions of the spiritual power. As a further check upon the interposition of the law^ a com- mission was issued in May 1631, empowering the privy-coun- cil, in all future time, ** to hear and examine all difierences which shall arise betwixt any of our courts of justice, espe. cially between the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions."! An enormous stretch of power, though the commission does not seem to have been acted upon ! In this, as in many of his undertakings. Laud found few willing cooperators ; " though," says Heylyn, " it be affirm- ed by a late historian that many bad no fancy to the work because he promoted it, yet on the contrary it is known, that had he not promoted it, there were not many would have had the fancy to a work of that nature. Some men in hope of favor and preferment from him, others to hold fair quar- ter with him, and not a few for fear of incurring his displea- sure, contributing more largely to it than they had done other- wise; if otherwise they had contributed at all." The clergy, being summoned by their ordinaries, gave a kind of annual subsidy; the king contributed in the whole about 10,000/., «r Paul Pindar 4000/. besides other assistance, Laud himself BO more than 100/. per annum ; the public subscription amounted to about 100,000/. But these resources falling very short of what was required, a further supply was •ought in the fines imposed by the high-commission and the star-chamber, concerning which lord Clarendon writes, that Laud, desirous of bringing high as well as low under the ♦ Ruahworth, part ii. p. 28. f Rymer, Fad. xix. 279. 207 rod of churcli dtftcipline ** thereupon called for and cherished the discovery of thpse who were not careful to cover their own iniquities, thinking they were above the reach of other men's, or their power or will to chastise. Persons of honcH* and great quality, of the court and of the country, were eve- ry day cited into the high- commission court upon the fame of their incontinence, or other scandal in their lives, and were there prosecuted to their shame and punishment : and as the shame was never forgiven, but watched for revenge, 80 the fines iipposed there were the more questioned and re- pined against, because they were assigned to the repairing and rebuilding of St. Paul's church ; and thought therefore to be the more severely imposed, and the less compassionate- ly reduced and excused ; which likewise made the jurisdic- tion and rigor of the star-chamber more felt and murmured against." Thus Bt. Paul's was said, like St. Peter's, to be built with the sins of the people ; and the result was scarcely less disastrous to that church-establishment which the edifice was designed to honor and adorn. In another and a very different point of view, the time was ill-chosen for restoring this grand national monument : This was the tramitian-age between the Gothic and the Grecian and Italian architecture ; and Inigo Jones, attached with a kind cf bigotry to the Palladian style, which he had the principal merit of introducing into Great Britain, made no scruple of sacrificing that most indispensable principle of taste, congrui- ty, by afiixing to the western end of the cathedral, the sides of which he had restored with a bad and clumsy Gothic, a porti- co of the Corinthian order. This portico, described as in it- self ^'a grand and beautiful composition, and not inferior to anything of the kind which modern times have produced," was designed as an ambulatory, that the church itself might no more be profaned by the kind of exchange which had long been customarily held in its middle aisle, called Paul's walk ; and men were now strictly prohibited from making it a com- mon thoroughfare, or carrying burdens through it. By the unremitting assiduity of the bishop, the work proceeded with such diligence, that before the year 1640 the whole body of the church was finished, and preparation made for taking down and rebuilding the steeple ; but '^ as he fell, the work fell with him." The annual contributions sank rapidly to no- thing, and during the civil wars, the parliament seized all the remaining stores of money and materials. At that time, whilst the choir was still occupied as a place of worship, the rest of 306 the biulding was conTerted into barracks for dragoons ; the paTeraent was in various parts broken up for saw-pitf, and many other injuries were inflicted upon it by rapacity, fanati* cism and wantonness. Soon after the RestoratioUi its repair was taken into consideration ; but nothing considerable had been done towards it, when the fire of London, by completing its ruin, fortunately made way for the erection of that sublime temple which now dignifies the metropolis and immortalizes the genius of Wren. The cost of th'is edifice was 760,000/., many times more than the sum extorted with so much harsh* ness and tyranny, and productive of such dangerous disaffec* tion, under Charles L But it waa mostly raised by a tax on coals, regularly and constitutionally assessed upon the people by their own representatives, and therefore paid without a murmur. Disputes having about this time arisen at Oxford between the champions and opponents of the ecclesiastical innovation^ Laud persuaded the king to usurp the office of an umpire, and the adversaries of Arminianism were i» consequence con* demned, and visited with marks of displeasure. In speaking publicly before his majesty on this affair, the bishop took occa- sion to drop some expressions in disparagement of the married clergy, announcing, that in the disposal of benefices, other things being equal, he should always give the preference to such as lived in celibacy ; but this proved to be too daring an approach towards Rome ; and the general murmur admonish* ed him of the expediency of a retraction, which he made indi- rectly, by negotiating a marriage between one of his own chaplains and a daughter of Windebank, clerk of the signet ; and performing for them himself, in the chapel of London* house, the nuptial service, *^ with all other ecclesiastical rites," says Heylyn, ** which belonged to the solemnization of matri- mony by the rules of tki$ church." Remarkable expressions, which seem to imply an administration of the sacrament, pre- ceded possibly, as among the catholics, by auricular confes- sion, known to be one of the practices of what he regarded as the primitive church which this prelate labored to restore. In the bishop's diary, the following entry appears for June 15th, 1632. " Mr. Frances Windebank, my old friend, was sworn secretary of state, which place I obtained for him of my gracious master King Charles." On July J 0th of the same year, he notes ; " Dr, Juxon, then dean of Worces- ter, at my suit sworn clerk of his majesty's closet* That I mjght have one that I could trust near his majesty, If I grow 209 • weak or infirin, as I must have a time."* " So that," as Hcylju obgcrves, ** Windebank having the king's ear on one side^ and the clerk of the closet on the other, he might pre* same to have his tale well told between them ; and that his majesty should not easily be possessed with any thing to his disadvantage."! These transactions are sufficient to evince that by this ecclesiastic the worst arts of a court were neither unstudied nor unpractised; his grasping spirit neglected^ in fact, no occasions of extending, which he believed to be the same with perpetuating, his own power and influence and those of bis order. Thus, a contest arising between the lord keeper and the master of the wards respecting the disposal of bene- fices in the presentation of the king's wards, Laud, in the words of his eulogist, ^^ ends the difference .by taking all unto hiihself ;" persuading the king first to seize and then to g^nt to him this branch of patronage, under pretence of re- warding army chaplains. In the disposal of bishoprics his- authority was paramount, and he now found opportunity Jo advance his designs by several impoitant changes. On the death of Harsnet, archbishop of York, he prevail- ed with his ancient patron and coadjutor Neile, to remove thither from Winchester ; and since the bishop of this last see, as visitor of five colleges in Oxford, ^had the means, if so dbposed, of putting a curb on the authority of the chancellor of the university, he thought it *^ most conducible to his peace and power," to remove thither Curie bishop of Bath and Wells. At Norwich he placed the witty and jovial Corbet, irreconcilably opposed by temper and manners to Calvinstic gloom and austerity, and endeared to Laud as an old felioW- sufferer in the Arminian cause at Oxford. By every one of the translations consequent upon these, he likewise contrived to gain some favorite point ; often the permanent annexation of a rich living to the bishopric, by way of compensation for the spoliation which all episcopal revenues had suffered from the hands of the Tudors. Two other characteristic exertions of his authority are re- corded about this time. The king^s printers, in an. edition of the Bible, had committed the awkward error of omitting the word not in the seventh coinmandment : the bishop, not content with ordering the impression to be called in for cor- rection, caused the high-commission to inflict on the involun- * TrmMeM aud Trialt <{f ^rckhiahop Laud, p. 47. t Cyjnvmus JingUcus, p. 214. 210 tary culprits an exorbitant fine, with part of which he*directed fine Greek types to be provided for publishing such ancient manuscripts as should be brought to light. Sherfield recorder of Saruro, having by direction of a vestry, and in obedience . both to statutes and canons, commanding the destruction of monuments of idolatry, ordered a disgusting representation of God the Father in the window of his parish church-to be taken down and broken to pieces, Laud caused him to be prosecuted in the star-chamber for what he pretended to be a lay usurpation on the jurisdiction of the bishop, or on that of his majesty, as head of the church. Here, *^ he did not only aggravate the crime as much as he could, in reference to the dangerous consequences which might follow on it, — amongst which be mentioned that of deterring moderate catholics from attending the church, — ^but defended the use itself of ♦* painted images,'' " in the way of ornament and re- membrance." In conclusion, after warm debates, in which some members of the court ventured to express their jealousy of the bishop's leaning towards popery, the majority concurred in sentencing the accused, by a judgment comparatively len- ient, to pay 50(M. to the king, — to lose bis office of recorder, and be bound to his good behavior ; ^^ as also, to make a public acknowledgment of his offence, not only in. the pa- rish church of St Edmonds where it was committed, but in the cathedral church itself, that the bishop, in contempt of wHose authority he had played this pageant, might have repa- ration."* This act, by the confession of his biographer, drew upon Laud " such a clamor as not only followed him to his death, but hath since been continued in sundry pamphlets." In fact, a more flagrant breach af every principle by which civil society Is held together, cannot easily be conceived ; and it is impossible to reflect without a kind of wonder at the guilty boldness of this ecclesiastic, who in his efforts to re- assert the most arrogant assumptions of his order, had taken means to render it more penal for an Englishman to ^ive effect to the laws of his country than to violate them. That such proceedings should have obtained the sanction of any proportion of the lay judges in the star-chamber, — ^those prime counsellors of the nation, — is an equal reproach to their wisdom and their integrity. If once the power of the church were thus enabled to erect itself above the authority of the * Cypriaiws JingUcus, p. 2 15/ el seq. 211 ]aW) It signified little whether that power were to be wielded by a pope or a patriarch ; for not only the spirit of the Refor- mation was gone, but that of the English nation itself, and of its venerable and O'^e constitution. In May 1631 died sir Robert Cotton, one of the most learned legal and historical antiquaries of his time, and hon- ored by posterity as the founder of a noble library of manu- scripts, which, being protected from dispersion by his last will, now augments the treasures of the British Museum. His cha- racter in other respects presents some remarkable contrarie- ties, and the closing scenes of bis life afford a melancholy ex- emplification of the principles and practices of the age. Robert Cotton was born of an ancient family in Hunting- donshire in 1570 ; and after completing his course at Trinity College Cambridge, and passing some time in studious retire- ment at bis father's seat, he took up his permanent residence in London. H« was a member of the society of Antiqua- ries before the political fears of king James compelled it to suspend its sittings ; and in 1600, he gave what must then have appeared an almost heroical pioof of attachment to his favorite pursuits, by accompanying Camden in a journey to Carlisle for the purpose of exploring the remains of the Picts Wall. He likewise supplied this meritorious writer with some valuable materials for bis ^'Britannia," derived chiefly from records and charters dispersed into private hands at the dissolution of the monasteries, which he now made it his business to collect ; adding such other ancient documents as he was able to procure. As his fame and bis knowledge in- creased. Cotton was frequently consulted by the ministers and privy councillors of James, and afterwards of Charles, on questions relating to the English constitution, and he compos- ed on subjects of this nature many learned tracts and memo- rials. King James likewise employed him to draw up a refu- tation of some of Buchanan's charges against his mother, said to be incorporated with Camden's Annals. He is re- ported to have been the first projector of the order of baronets, into which he gained an early admission. Some part of bis political conduct is exposed to suspicion, for in 1615 we find |[n order for the committal of sir Robert Cotton, and the sealing up of his library, on informatbn of his enter- taining a dangerous correspondence with the Spanish am- bassador : it has likewise been recorded, that in a list of the pen- sioners of Spain in England delivered by Gondomar to his own court, sir Robert Cotton was charged with the receipt of 213 lOOQ/. ; but on his denial and demand of reparation in honor, his name was withdrawn as the error of a secretary.* But whatever might be the degree of his culpability in these in- trigues, there is good reason to believe that the earl of Somer- set was much more deeply implicated in them, and through his interest, probably, Cotton was speedily liberated. He was examined however on the trial of the earl, as the depositary of some of his political secrets. It is also stat- ed, that the form of that scandalous pardon for all trea- sons, murders and felonies, by him ** committed or to be committed,** under which this guilty minion sought, but in vain, to protect himself from the justice which he dreaded, was furnished to him from ancient precedents by sir Robert Cotton. In the same year he employed himself by king James's command in drawing up a plan for the repression of Jesuits, priests and recusants ^V without drawing blood." Af- terwards he composed an answer to certain arguments urged by members of the lower house " to prove that ecclesiastical laws ought to be enacted by tempcH^l men.'* It is certain however, that this learned antiquary was by no means disposed to lend his countenance to the extravagant pretensions or arbitrary measures of the court. Law and pre- cedent were on all occasions the rule to which he referred ; and he seems to have been equally ready to apply it by if bich- ever party it was appealed to. In a learned tract published long after, under the title of *^ The antiquity and dignity of parliaments,** he vindicated the rights of the commons against the am^nce of king James ; he advised his successor to sum- mon a parliament notwithstanding the reluctance of Bucking- ham, and being called to the» privy council, earnestly exhorted him to abstain from unwarrantable acts of power, and not to attempt to raise money without the concurrence of the com- mons. He also supported the complaints of grievances in the first parliament of Charles, who so early as 1626 threat- ened to take his books from him, because he was accused of imparting ancient precedents to the lower houfte ;t a menace which was at length carried into effect on the following oc- casion. During the year 1629 a few copies had been handed about in manuscript, amongst the leaders of the popular party in both houses, of a piece called ** A Proposition to bridle the impertinency of parliaments ;** in which the sove^ * Amudt tfhing Jmnn mud kkig CkmUs^ p. 47. t S«e Brom0*8 BrUith Empbref voL i. p. 8. ais reign was advised to levy troops, to place garrisons in his chief totvns, and then to rule without control. The king, on its being shown to him, treated it as an insidious or ironical piece, designed to bring him into suspicion with the people, and by his command Mr. Oliver St. John was committed to the Tower as the suspected author. This gentleman now confessed that the piece had been lent him for hire, without the owner^s ktwtoledge^ out of sir Robert Cotton's library ; against whom, as also against the circulators of it, namely the earls of Clare, Bedford and Somerset, Selden and St. John, proceedings were immediately commenced in the star-chamber. It was proved by the earl of Somerset on the trial, that this tract, so far from being the recent production of a popular leader, had been sent to himself sixteen or seventeen years before, to be presented to king James, and that it was written with a serious design to serve the cause of monarchy, by the noted projector sir Robert Dudley, then an exile at Florence. On this evidence, all the defendants were, with a great parade of royal clemency, dismissed, and the proceedings taken off the file ; but at the beginning of the affair an order had been made for cettatn privy councillors to enter the house of sir Robert Cotton, and search his books, records and papers, setting down 9uch as ought to belong to the erown;* and on this authority, such as it was, his whole col- lection was shut up from his use. Of the effects of this detestable act of oppression on the suf- ferer, sir Symonds D'Ewes thus writes in his diary : " When i went several times to visit and comfort him in the year 16S0, he would tell me, ^they had broken his heart that bad locked np his library from him.' I easily guessed the reason, be* cause his honor and esteenn were much impaired by this fatal accident ; and his house, that was formerly frequented by great and honorable personages, as by learned men of all sorts, remained now, upon the matter, empty and desolate. I understood from himself and others, that Dr. Neile and Dr. Laud, two prelates that had been stigmatized in the first session of parliameiit in 1628, were his sore enemies. He was so outworn, within a few months, with anguish and grief, as his face, which had been formerly ruddy and well color- ed; was wholly changed into a grim blackish paleness, near to the resemblance and hue of a dead visage.'* We have seen that he survived but a few months. It is said, in a * Rymer, xix. 19& Vol. I. 26 su eontemporary letter, ** that before he died he requested sir Henry Spelman to sigDify to the lord priry seal and the rest of the lords of the council, that their so long detaining of his books from him, without rendering any reason for the same, bad been the cause of his mortal malady ; upon which mes- sage the lord privy seal came to sir Robert, when it was too late, to comfort him from the king ; from whom the eail of Dorset also came, within half an hour after sir Robert's death, to condole with sir Thomas Cotton his son for his death ; and to tell him, from his majesty, that as he loyed his father, so he would continue to love him.*' But the writer trusted little to the effects of this ** court holy-water."* From a curious letter lately made public,t addressed to sir Robert Cotton by Augustine Baker, a learned catholic priest then rendent at Cambray, requesting him to bestow upon a convent of English nuns in that city some English books, printed or manuscript, fit for their perusal, such as ^* contemplations, saints' lives, or other devotions," we seem authorized to conclude that his respect for authority and an* tiquity had either made or preserved this eminent person a member of the church of Rome. About the end of the year 16S2, Mary de' Medici and her son Gaston duke of Orleans, whose plots and intrigues against the peace of the kingdom of France and the power of cardinal Richelieu had banished them from that country, proposed to make England a place of retreat for themselves and their adherents ; but a timely message sent by king Charles to the queen-mother, then at Brussels, averted for the present, the obvious mischiefs of her presence in a court and country where her religion, her character, and her influence over the mind of her daughter, must all have concurred to render her an object of dislike and suspicion equally to the king and the people. Another royal exile, whose claims were cheerfully admitted by every English heart, — ^the wid- owed queen of Bohemia, — received about the same time from Charles an invitation to bis court, honorable, by its ap- parent cordiality, to its fraternal feelings. It was declined, on the plea that the grief of the queen for her recent loss wouM cloud too much the pleasure of the meeting : but the high-spuited Elizabeth was m fact dissatisfied with the abject tone which Charles had directed the earl of Arundel, his ambassador, to employ towards the emperor in his negotia- * ClulaMn'ii Oen. Bi9f . Diet. f £lli«, sa MriM, iii. 857. 215 tions for the restoration of her chUdren to their hereditary rights and possessions ; and it was more consonant with her inclinations to remain in Holland to stimulate or direct the efforts then making by the States in her son's behalf. 216 CHAPTER X. 16S3 and 1634. King^s progress to Scotland to he croumed^ — ^15 entertained hy the earl of Newcastle, — Account of him. — Splendor of the progress^ — Expense to Scotch nobility, — State of Scotch church, and Hng^s measures and designs respecting it. — Coronation. — Conduct of Charles towards Scotch parliament, — He becomes unpopular^ and why. — Edinburgh made a bishop* s see. — Laud a privy-coun- cillorfor Scotland. — English liturgy appointed to be used in Holyrood chapel. — King^s return to England. — Death of arch' bishop Abbot. — Laud succeeds him, — Is offered to be a cardinaL — Reflections. — State assumed by Laud, who receives the title of Holiness from the university of Oxford. — Conduct of Wentworth as president of the North. — Cases ofJBeUasis and sir D. Foulis. — Wentworth appointed lord deputy of Ireland. — Troubled state of that country. — Measures against the puritans.-r— Communion tables turned into altars. — Book of sports. — Plays performed at court. — Inns of Court masque. — Notice and death of Noy. — Death and character of sir Edward Coke. — Seizure of his pa- pers.. CHARLES I. on his accession, as if taking for granted the existence of that union of his two British kingdoms for which his father had sought in vain the concurrence of their separate legislatures, had caused himself to he proclaimed by the nov- el style of King of Great Britain. From this act it seemed not an improbable inference that he designed to dispense with the ceremony of a coronation for Scotland ; and eight years* delay of this rite had served to condrm the impression. But no sooner had he and his favorite prelate organized their sys- tem of government civil and ecclesiastical in England, than they began to extend their schemes to Scotland. In pursu- ance of these, it was industriously given out, that the Scots had long murmured that their native prince did not think their crown worth coming for ; and great preparations being made, on May 13th, 1633, Charles set forth for Edinburgh in order to his coronation. For the purpose of swelling his train and augmenting the 217 effector that 'display of power and majesty by which It was his object to overawe the spirit of the Scottish people, the king made no scruple of issuing his commands to many of the chief nobility of England to attend him, at their own ex- *pense, in this royal progress, which occupied no less than twenty-four days ; and his mandates were obeyed with at least a seeming alacrity. Much show and considerable demonstrations of loyal sen- timent attended the movements of the king. Those of the nobility and gentry whose mansions bordered on the north road, exerted themselves to the utmost in showing hospitality to the lords and courtiers in attendance ; and the king him- self accepted Invitations from many. But the efforts of all others were totally eclipsed by the prodigality of the earl of Newcastle, who entertained the king and court, according to the expression of lord Clarendon, which bear however an air of exaggeration, *^ in such a wonderful manner, and in such an excess of feasting, as had never been before known in England ; a^nd would be still thought very prodigious, if the same noble person had not, within a year or two afterwards, made the king and queen a more stupendous entertainment ; which (God be thanked) though possibly it might too much whet the appetite of others to excess, no man ever after imi- tated."* A slight sketch of the history of this nobleman, for whom destiny had a much more eventful career in reserve, will suf- ficiently explain the causes and inducements to this extraor- dinary display of loyalty. William Cavendish, born in 1592, was the son and heir of sir Charles Cavendish of Welbeck, -knight, by a coheiress of Cuthbert lord Ogle. He was grandson of that William Cavendish, the attached dependent of Wolsey, who laid the foundation of the almost unexampled prosperity of his house, by his intermarriage with Elizabeth Hardwick, celebrated for her adroitness, her talents for busi- ness, and her insatiable, rapacity; who rose by her fourth marriage to the rank of countess of Shrewsbury, but bore children only to her second husband Cavendish, who conse- quently became the heirs of her vast accumulations. At the creation of Henry prince of Wales, Cavendish was made a knight of the bath ; and was sent abroad with sir Henry Wotton, then ambassador to Savoy. He succeeded to his father at the age of twenty-three, and soon married a Stafford- ♦ HhL. ^ Rebmm^ rw^r^d edit, vqU 1. p. 1 39. ai8 ■hire heiress, after which he lived chiefljr on his own estate^ keeping great hospitality, and devoted to field sports. James was induced to confer upon him the titles of viscount Mans* field and baron Bolsover ; to which honors king Charles added those of earl of Newcastle and baron of Bothoi ; with the' appointment of warden of Sherwood forest and lord*Ueuten« ant of Nottinghamshire. On the decease of his cousin the first earl of Devonshire of the name of Cavendish, he became lord-lieutenant of Derbyshire likewise ; but resigned the of- fice when the second earl came of age. ** In these and all public and private employments,'' says his lady in her biogra- phy of him, ** my lord hath ever been careful to keep up the king's r^hts to the uttermost of his power." Without being a scholar, the earl of Newcastle vvas a lover of polite literature, a patron of its professors, and even an author ; he wrote many lyrical poems and comedies, now forgotten, and a book on horsemanship and the art of the ** manage,'' which gained him contemporary applause, and is still valued as a curiosity. In the more trying scenes of his life his honor, humanity, and personal courage were conspic- uous, and under all circumstances of fortune he was addict- ed to a magnificence excessive even in proportion to a rental estimated before the civil war at the vast sum, for those days, of 23,39S/. Of his entertainments given to the king and 'royal family, his wife thus speaks. ** When his majesty was going into Scotland to be crown-* ed, he took his way through Nottinghamshire, and lying at Worksop manor, hardly two miles distant from Welbeck, where my lord then Vi^s, my lord invited bis majesty thither to a dinner, which he was graciously pleased to accept of. This entertainment cost my lord between four and five thou- sand pounds ; which his majesty liked so well, that a year after bis return out of Scotland, he was pleased to send my lord word, that her majesty the queen was resolved to make a progress into the Northern parts, desiring him to prepare the like entertainment for her as he had done formerly for him. Which my lord did, and endeavored for it with all pos- sible care and industry, sparing nothing that might add splen- dor to that feast, which both their majesties were pleased to honor with their presence. Ben Johnson he employed in fit- ting such scenes and speeches as he could best devise, and sent for all the gentry of the country to come and wait on their majesties ; and in short did all that ever he could imi^- ine to render it great, and worthy their royal acceptance. 219 Tbb entertainment he made at Bolsover cattle and re- signed Weib^ck for their majesties' lodging ; it cost him in all between fourteen and fifteen thousand pounds. " Besides these there was another small entertainment which my lord prepared for his late majesty, in, his own park at Welbeck, when his late majesty came down with his two nephews, the now prince elector Palatine and his brother prince Rupert, into the forest of Sherwood ; which cost him fifteen hundred pounds."* The splendor of the royal progress was enhanced by the circumstance of the ofiices of the English royal household being at this time almost equally divided between^nglish and Scottish courtiers, who on this occasion were prompted by the sprit of nationality strenuously to vie with each other in dbplays of dress, equipage, and attendance. Immediately on the king's crossing the border, the whole of the English household resigned their functions to the corresponding offi- cers for Scotland, whose places were mostly hereditary, and who very nobly discharged the duties of hospitality which at the same time devolved upon them. Such in fact was the ex- cessive expense thus incurred by many of the Scottish nobles, bent on vindicating their country from the reproach of pov- erty, as to brkig upon them embarrassments the chagrin of which has been suggested as one of the motives of that dis- affection to their prince which quickly succeeded to these vehement demonstrations of loyal sentiment : But in truth the general causes of this altered state of feeling lay far deeper. It will be recollected that king James, almost from the period when he first assumed the reins of government in Scot- land, had been in a constant state of hostility with the national church, and that there were few projects which he had pur- sued with more ardor and perseverance than that of restoring epbcopacy in Scotland^ and introducing a liturgic form of worship with rites and ceremonies after the Anglican model. He had proceeded so far towards the accomplishment of his design as to appoint bishops by virtue of his prerogative ; but as the episcopal order had been abolished by law, and its authority, like its revenues, had passed into hands which re- fused to relax their grasp, these dignities were little more than titular. On his visit to Scotland in 1617, this sovereign had further succeeded in extorting the sanction of a synod held at * The Life of the duke of^evfcaetU by Margaret duchess of ^eweastle. 220 Perth for the adoption of five articles taken from the English ritual ; and had erected a court of high-commission for the protection of these innovations and others which he meditated ; but the whole of his measures had been encountered by so formidable a spirit of resistance, that he had thenceforth given up the cause in despair ; and when Laud, almost on his first introduction at court, had ventured to ofi*er to him some sug- gestions for the renewal of ills attempts, bitter experience prompted him not only to reject the idea, but to cast reproach and discountenance on the author of it, as a rash and evil counsellor. Through his wonted facility, however, James had afterwards yielded, at the intercession of Buckingham and Williams, to that advancement of Laud which had event- ually rendered him the favorite adviser of his son and succes- sor ; and it was with the purpose of pursuing, under the guidance of this prelate, those very schemes which his more prudent father had rejected or abandoned, and of the hazard of which he had himself made some experiment, that Charles now revisited his native kingdom, a suspected and inauspicious guest : The event was such as to yield fresh testimony to the sagacity of him whose fears had so often proved prophetic. It was legal, and had been customary,^ for every Scottish king on his accession to revoke any donations which might have been made by his predecessor of such lands as formed a part of the patrimony annexed by law to the crown. Charles, improving upon this practice, had passed an act in the first year of his reign, for the resumption of all those impropriated tithes and benefices which, having reverted to the crown since the Reformation, — ^that is, during a period of more than eighty years, — had been subsequently granted by the sovereign to reward the services, or silence the importunities, of his no- bles. These impropriations were destined by the monarch to form an endowment for the new dignitaries of the church, and in the year 1626 the earl of Nithisdale had been sent to Edinburgh with the character of king^s commissioner to en- force their surrender by threats and promises. A convention was summoned to treat of the affair ; but at a previous meet- ing of the parties interested, who were considerable both for rank and numbers, it was resolved that the demand should be peremptorily rejected, and even, that " when they were called together, if no other argument did prevail to make the carl of Nithisdale desist, they would fall upon him and all bis party in the old Scottish manner, and knock them on the head." *^ The appearance at that time was so great," adds the histo- t21 "^ r "ivV*^? *^ ^^^^ heat wag raised upon it, that the cart of NUhisdale would not open all hii instructions, but eame back to court, looking on the service as ilesperate : so a ston was put to it for some time."* ^ A kind of compromise had afterwards been forced upon the impTopriatorfi^ which gave them extreme discontent; but Charles and hb episcopal adviser were not to be satisfied with partial success or modified obedience, and they would not suf- fer themselves to doubt for a moment that all opposition would be prostrated before the frown of a present and offended so- vereign. The king's entry and coronation " were managed,*' we are told, " with such magnificence that the country suffered much by it ;''t and the cc»*onation service, as performed by the archbishop of St., Andrews, gave high offence to the people on account of the introduction of an altar, and of rites closely bordering on the ceremonial of the mass. Also, the archbishop of Glasgow, having presented himself without the embroidered robes prepared for his use, which he scru- pled to wear, was publicly removed from the side of the king of Scotland, by his favorite English bishop, with an insolent and indecorous violence. In the parliament which succeeded, stratagem was employ- ed to secure the election of lords of the articles whose sub- serviency to the royal will could be relied upon ; and after a grant had been obtained of supplies to an unprecedented amount, an act was proposed for confirming to the king the whole of that indefinite extent of prerogative which had been conceded to his father, and also for confirming religion, " as at present professed," and enabling his majesty to regulate the vestments of churchmen. The last article met with strong opposition. The cope and the surplice were objects of horror to the Scotch ; and an aged nobleman exclaimed aloud, that be had sworn with the king's father and the whole natbn to a confession of faith in which these intended innovations were solemnly abjured. Charles, disconcerted by this remark, re-* tired for a few moments, but resuming on his return bis im- perious tone, he commanded the members not to debate, but to .vote, and producing a list of their names, he added ; " I shall know to-day who will do me service." Through a fraud of the lord-register in taking the votes, the articles appeared to be carried, although the majority was in fact agains[t them : * Buraet's Own times, i, 35 edit. 1833. t ^^id. i. 36. Vol. I. 27 222 lord Rothes demanded a scrutinj, but it was authoritatirelf refused by the king, unless that nobleman would take upon himself to char|^e the lord-register with the capital crime of wilfully falsifying the votes, which, on failure of proof, sub- jected the accuser to the like punishment. Lord Rothes de- clining to incur this formidable responsibility, the articles passed. By these acts of overmastering power, tending to deprive thenoblesof revenues which long possession had taught them to regard as inalienable, the parliament of its independence, and the people of the only safeguards of a religious system to which they were irremovably attached, Charles speedily drew upon himself such unequivocal marks of resentment from all classes as attracted his own attention, and in the simplicity of that ignorance of mankind characteristic of princes who have conversed with flatterers from their cradle, he expressed to a Scottish bishop his surprise at the change. The prelate, in- stead of embracing the opportunity to impress on his mind some wholesome truths, replied, ominously as it was thought, that the Scotch were ready to crucify tomorrow him whom they had yesterday saluted with hosannas.* But all appre- hension of personal responsibility was still immeasurably dis- tant from the king's conceptions, and the tokens of disaflec- tion exhibited by those whom he regarded as bom for implicit obedience, sullenly received and haughtily retorted, ministered only to mutual exasperation. By the king's command, Edinburgh was now erected into a bishopric and endowed with church lands which, for exam- ple's sake, certain great nobles were privately bribed to sur- render : Laud, who, to the just displeasiire of the Scottish clergy, had been admitted to preach before the king in his chapel of Holy rood, arrayed in vestments which they scru- pled to wear, a discourse in praise of rites and ceremonies which they abhorred, was likewise appointed a privy council- lor for Scotland ; and certain clerical aspirants, already pre- pared to regard him as a spiritual head and ruler, began to pay court to him by making their pulpits resound with the doctrines of Arminianism, which the indignant partisans of the kirk denounced with fury on the other hand, as the sure harbinger of popery. Having to outward appearance completely effected the iro* mediate objects of his expedition, and taken measures for the 923 further adfrancement of hb tcheroes of ecclesiastical policy, Cliarles, after performing a progress through the principal ci- ties of Scotland, " made a posting journey to the queen at Greenwich," where he arrived on July 30th, having crossed the water at Blackwall without passing through London. A contemporary writer well remarks, that in this last act he laid aside the majesty of his predecessors, and especially of queen £iizabeth, who seldom ended any of her summer progresses without shaping her course «o as to make her passage to Whitehall through some part of the City ; when the lord-may- or and corporation, and the trading companies, were always drawn out in their formalities to meet her ; hy which she kept the citizens *^ in a reverent opinion and estimation of her." These and other acts of popularity and majesty com- bined, were, as he adds, disused by king James, ^^ who brook- ed neither of them," and not being taken up again by his sod, " who loved them not much more," first a neglect of their persons, and ultimately a dislike of their government ensued.* The first important incident after the king^s return^ was the death of archbishop Abbot ; a prelate disgraced by the king, revered by the people, and cherished by all, in every class, whose consciences were alarmed at the late approximations to popery in the English ritual, or whose spirits revolted at the violent and tyrannical means by which it was attempted to. establish them. Laud, who had already been allowed to assume the authority, was instantly invested with the dignity of the departed primate ; and his ambition was at the same time tempted by the offer of a much more remarkable piece of preferment. It is from his own diary we learn, what would be scarcely credible on any other authority, that on August 4th, the very day on which the news of Abbot's death arrived at court, there came one to him, "seriously, and that. avowed ability Co perform it," and